|
|
|
Analytical Approach to Classifying a Personal Injury Award
© 2004 National Legal Research Group, Inc.
FLORIDA: Bollaci v. Neiporte-Bollaci, 863 So. 2d 440 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003).
Where the record contained no evidence establishing the various elements of damages included in the husband's personal injury award, the trial court erred by treating the award as entirely marital property. The case was remanded so that better proof could be introduced to establish the elements of damages. Damages for lost marital wages and earning capacity, plus medical expenses paid with marital funds, should be treated as marital property. Damages for losses due to be suffered after the divorce, such as lost future wages, should be treated as separate property.
Several months after the wife filed for divorce, the husband was involved in an automobile accident in which he was injured. During the divorce proceedings, neither party introduced into evidence the circumstances surrounding the accident, the nature and extent of the husband's injuries, the filing of any lawsuit, or any settlement negotiations. Nevertheless, in the trial court's final judgment of divorce, it ordered that the parties equally share in any proceeds received from the husband's claim in connection with the accident. The husband appealed this aspect of the judgment. The appellate court reversed.
The court on appeal agreed with the husband that it was error for the trial court under the circumstances of this case and the state of the record to treat the proceeds of his injury claim as marital property and equally distribute such proceeds. The appellate court declared that the trial court should use an analytical, rather than a mechanistic or unitary, approach in classifying and distributing the proceeds from an injury claim. There should be a consideration of the purpose of the award and a focus on the award's elements of damages. Only that portion of damages paid to the injured spouse as compensation for past lost wages and loss of earning capacity should be considered marital property. Damages for loss of future earnings, loss of earning capacity, and future medical expenses are the separate property of the injured spouse, although they may be considered in fashioning support and alimony awards. Here, because the parties did not present evidence from which the trial court could determine whether the proceeds could be considered subject to equitable consideration, the case was remanded with instructions to vacate that portion of the lower court's judgment relating to the husband's personal injury claim.
Go to: Personal Injury Awards Category
Go to: Cases of Interest by Category
Go to: Previous Page
| Featured Services | |
|
| The Research Center: (Divorce Cases of Interest) | Research Home | ||||
Find Case Law, Case Analysis, and Divorce Information...
| |||||
Copyright© 1996-2009. All rights reserved by Divorce Source, Inc.
Comments & Suggestions? or Recommend This Page to a Friend!