In every Woodlands Divorce case your attorney will review the assets and debts that exist between you and your spouse. After the assets and debts are identified your Woodlands Divorce Attorney will then work with you to discover which assets may qualify as separate property and can benefit from the special protections available to separate property in a divorce. If you or your spouse received funds as part of a personal injury settlement, a portion of the settlement or award may have been categorized as punitive or exemplary damages. Are punitive damages community property or separate property? Read more…

A recovery that you obtain for personal injuries during your marriage is generally considered to be your separate property and not community property in a Woodlands divorce. There is one significant exception however. A personal injury award can be made up of several different components. There may be an award for pain and suffering as well as for lost wages. The portions of a personal injury award that belong to the community estate include damages for lost wages, medical expenses, and other expenses associated with injury to the community estate. Once an item is identified as community property it becomes subject to division between you and your ex-spouse in the divorce.

Who Must Prove What?

When a spouse receives a settlement from a lawsuit during marriage, some of which could be separate property and some of which could be community property, it is that spouse’s burden to demonstrate which portion of the settlement is his or her separate property. This is important to remember, the person claiming the personal injury award as community property does not have to prove a thing unless the other spouse is able to establish the award is separate property by clear and convincing evidence. Call (832) 592-7913 and speak with a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer about protecting your rights if you or your spouse settled a lawsuit during your marriage.

Resources.

Before even trying to figure out what a parent can pay as child support in Montgomery County your Woodlands Divorce Attorney must establish the parent’s resources. There are many different resources that the Conroe divorce court considers when awarding child support. Today we are going to look at one specific type of asset – the structured settlement annuity.

Structured settlement annuities are used to settle personal injury claims. In many ways they behave like a normal annuity that you might buy from a bank, but is it a resource for child support?

Should the entire payment be included as a resource?

Should none of the payment be included as a resource?

Should part of the payment be included as a resource?

The appeals court recently ruled on a case where they had to decide Read more…