Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Auto Accident

California is a community property state. If you and your husband have formed a marital community (which almost alays happens except when the couple takes deliberate steps to remain separate) then the community owns most of the income either spouse earns as well as anything purchased with those funds.

Each spouse will usually have his or her own separate property as well. Generally speaking, what each spouse owns at the time of marriage remains separate property. Any income that property generates (interest or stock dividends, for example) is also that spouse's separate property, provided that no community funds or energies were used for its upkeep. A spouse who sells some of her separate property during the marriage is entitled to keep the proceeds (as long as she doesn't mingle them with community funds); anything she purchases with these proceeds would also be her separate property.

The rules are much more nuanced than what I have described, so you should not rely literally on my explanation. My goal is to give you a general understanding of the relevant rules and not to explain them in minute detail.

The community is liable for debts either spouse accrues while the community exists, but not for debts accrued earlier or later. Presumably your husband's accident occurred during the marriage; if you had formed a community before the accident and the plaintiff obtains a judgment against your husband, she will be able to execute it against community property but *not* against your separate property.

Without more details I can't say whether you and your husband have a community or, if so, what property you own separately. You may want to consult directly with an attorney.