Is an Accident Settlement Marital Property?
In Pennsylvania, more than 350 accidents occur every day on average, and those accidents result in more than 200 injuries that warrant damages. Even if there are multiple plaintiffs in a case, most settlements that a Philadelphia accident attorney helps finalize are awarded on an individual basis. Although awarded to an individual, the spouse of that person may have a right to that money as well.Consider When the Compensation Was Awarded
An important determinant in the issue of a shared settlement is when compensation was awarded. This is an important distinction from when payment was actually received. If the compensation was awarded prior to the marriage or after the divorce decree, then the ex-spouse will usually have no claim to the settlement. There can be exceptions here such as if there was a loss of income during the marriage, but the settlement was not finalized or paid until after the marriage had officially ended.Community Property vs. Equitable Distribution
If the compensation was awarded during the marriage, then whether a spouse has rights to some or all damages varies from case to case and depends on a number of factors. The first factor to consider is that Pennsylvania has equitable distribution laws, which means that property acquired during a marriage belongs to the spouse who acquired it. That doesn’t mean that the other spouse has no rights to the settlement at all but that the court must assign it in a fair and equitable way.The Reason Why Compensation Was Awarded

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