Soon to be ex-husband car accident and coverage question

by Gabrielle

My soon to be exhusband got into a car accident. I'm in the process of filing for a divorce and I receive paper work in the mail that a person my husband hit is trying to sue me.

He no longer lives with me and I'm not on the car nor does he have car insurance. I guess because I am married to him the guy is trying to come after me.

My husband was at fault and didn't have insurance at the time. Can the other guys insurance company come after me? Will I have to pay for this even tho I'm not on his truck nor does he live with me.

Answer:

Hello Gabrielle, I am sorry to hear about your situation.

The answer is depends. If you are in a community property state, then they can come after you (property damage states are a minority, so chances are that you are not, but double check on that). If you are not in a property damage state, and as you outlined, he does not live with you, and he is not in your insurance policy, then chances are that they will not be able to do much against you.

The other issue might be the property that you have in common with him. If for example, you own a house and you both own it (his name is in it), then technically that is also his asset, and the insurance company can go after him for his portion of ownership. Your portion should be shielded in a non community property state, but it would not in a community property state.

As a side note, most insurance companies do not go after people like yours to recover. They usually go after insurance policies and they stop there. Chances are they will not harass you to get there. As always, you are strongly encourage to talk to an attorney.

Good Luck,

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com