Personal Injury Award: Who gets the Proceeds in a Divorce?

Headlines announcing celebrity divorces cover the gossip magazines.  And this has been a popular year for divorce in Hollywood – Ben and Jennifer, Blake and Miranda, Gwen and Gavin, and Halle and Olivier, to name just a few.   While such news may only be fit for mindless gossip magazines, celebrity divorces surprisingly offer some insight into divorce legal proceedings, even for those without celebrity status.  For example, Barry Bonds divorce in 1994 led to a change in law on governing pre-nuptual agreements.    
 
The divorce of Brian Austin Green, of 90210 fame, from Megan Fox brings to light a not uncommon question we grapple with in our cases.  Who gets the proceeds from a personal injury award?  Green and Fox were in car accident in 2014, while still married.  Green now claims that he suffers from vertigo as a result of the accident and is now unable to work.  This, in part, accounts for the couple’s large disparity in income, prompting Green’s request for temporary spousal support.  The question arises, if Green is awarded a personal injury award as a result of the accident, who retains the proceeds?  Typically, under Family Code section 2603(b), the Party who suffered the injury retains the proceeds.   However, in the interest of justice, the Court may award the non-injured Party up to one-half of the award.  What merits “in the interest of justice” is decided on a case by case basis.  To discuss the details of your case, speak with a qualified family law attorney at the Law offices of Maria E. Crabtree.

For the full article by Ms. Sosna and Ms. Van Voohries, see http://blog.sfbar.org/2015/11/06/divorce-is-the-peach-pits-for-former-beverly-hills-90210-actor/