ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1009 W 7TH AVENUE ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 TELEPHONE: (907) 279-4529 FAX: (907) 279-9223
BY STEVE PRADELL, Attorney at Law
IN THE MOVIE, THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, BETTE MIDLER, GOLDIE HAWN AND DIANE KEATON conspire against their rich husbands who left them for younger women. To do so, they make claims to assets in divorce to get even with their former mates. With the conclusion of the Exxon Valdez oil spill case, many Alaskans are now entitled to receive a portion of the $5 billion punitive damages awarded against the oil company. The Alaska Supreme Court recently agreed that the punitive damages awarded to a commercial fisherman in the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation were marital property, and awarded the wife a portion of these funds. This may be the first case in the country to address the issue of whether Punitive Damages can be divided as marital property in a divorce.
Divorce judges will review personal injury and other awards to determine if they should be divided between the spouses. Normally, those who are injured receive compensatory damages, and sometimes punitive damages are awarded by a judge or jury. Punitive damages punish the wrongdoer, and compensatory damages compensate the injured person for the loss suffered. In Alaska, a divorce court will normally divide the compensatory damages which pay a spouse for lost income which would have been earned during the marriage. The damages are awarded because the injury prevented the spouse from working during the marriage. Had the spouse not been injured, the money earned would have been marital money. The court normally allows an injured spouse to keep damages that are deemed to be separate from the marriage. Awards for pain and suffering and for earnings in the future, after the marriage has ended, are not normally divided in divorce. The recent case agreed that compensatory damages collected from Exxon were marital property, because the award replaced lost fishing income which would have been earned during the marriage. The Court held that a punitive damage award should be apportioned in the same manner as the underlying compensatory damages award. A divorce judge would first determine what proportion of compensatory damages are marital. This would determine the marital proportion of the punitive damages. The case has received national attention, and may be the first such ruling in the country and it has broad implications for all couples when a person is wrongfully injured during a marriage. If you are considering divorce and you or your spouse was injured during the marriage, you may desire to discuss this matter with an attorney, to determine your legal rights.
Steven Pradell is an Anchorage attorney with a practice emphasizing family law, including divorce and custody. The lawyers at Pradell and Associates also practice personal injury and criminal law. ©1997 by Steven Pradell. This article is not intended to provide legal advice and should not be relied on for that purpose. The law office of Pradell and Associates provides low cost legal consultations. A helpful staff provides prompt, courteous services to meet your legal needs. Give Pradell and Associates a call today, at (907) 279-4529-- (279-4LAW).