Legal Question in Personal Injury in North Carolina

Re: Auto accident benificiary question

Because you are in Virginia but the lawsuit in

North Carolina, there are some legal questions

in Virginia but mainly in North Carolina.

However, you need to be very clear about what you

mean that your mother had a "settlement." What

exactly does that mean? Was there a lawsuit?

Was there a court order ending the lawsuit,

perhaps by a settlement entered by court order?

Or is there simply a contract of settlement?

The executor of your mother's estate should be

able to enforce any of those and collect the

money, regardless of whether she is dead.

However, if the lawsuit was not really ended,

there could be some very difficult legal issues

now that she is dead.

So the first question is to figure out exactly

what the status is. I would recommend going

to look at the court record, if any. Or

if it is only a contract, look at the contract.

You may be able to bring a lawsuit in Virginia

to enforce a contract or to collect on a

judgment, if the defendant is in Virginia (or

everywhere, such as an insurance company).

But to explore what exactly you have from this

you will probably need a North Carolina attorney

to advise you.

Re: Auto accident benificiary question

That's a tricky question. Most settlements are simply paid in a lump sum up-front, so there's usually not true "collection" on a settlement. Perhaps she simply had not been paid yet, or perhaps this was an annuity, or there could have been a payment plan. In any event, if an Estate was set up, then it the payments would be made to the Estate, and then perhaps to you as beneficiary. You probably need an attorney to help you on this one.