Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Cause of action (accident) arises before your separation, so ex is very much entitled to the settlement.

If it is payment for your injury claim only, no. If she had a separate claim for loss of services and payment was for that also, yes.

There is no such legal status as "legally separated" in Florida. But if you mean you just plain separated after the injury but before the settlement, the answer is up to the judge. Normally, assets and debts are considered "marital" in Florida up until the day the divorce is filed. However, Florida law gives the judge the discretion to change the date to another day, such as the date of separation.

Also, even if the judge does decide that she is entitled to a portion of your settlement, she is not entitled to all of it. Florida law says that injury settlemenst are generally nonmarital, no matter when they occur. The only portion of an injury settlement that is marital is the part that is considered "lost wages," and she would be entitled to half of that. Of course, since settlements aren't usually laid out that way, they just come as one big check, it's often tough to know what portion of the settlement is "lost wages," and therefore, how much of the check is hers.