Make Sure You Share These Details With Your Personal Injury Attorney
Posted on: 30 September 2019
If you are going through a personal injury case, you might be amazed at how much you're expected to share with your attorney. This may feel strange — sharing details of your health and medical records with someone you just met. However, it is your attorney's job to represent your interests in court, and they can do that more effectively when they know all the details. Here are three things you may feel awkward about sharing with your personal injury attorney, but should definitely share anyways.
Criminal Proceedings
If you have ever been charged with a crime before, make sure you tell your attorney about it. Even if it was something silly, like a misdemeanor for disrupting the peace when you were 20 and in college, this is something the defense could bring up and use against you. If your attorney knows about it ahead of time, they will be better prepared to counter any arguments related to your past criminal charges. Tell your attorney even if you were not ultimately convicted of the crime.
Intentions to Divorce
If you and your spouse are not getting along well, and divorce has been discussed, you need to tell your attorney about it. If you were to win your case and collect damages for your injuries, that money may or may not need to be split with your spouse, depending on the exact laws in the state where you live. Your attorney may even recommend delaying your case a little until you are through the divorce process so that you do not have to split your settlement. Whether this is possible will depend on the statute of limitations and how close to divorcing you actually are.
Past Taxes Due
If you owe back taxes, any money you earn in your settlement may simply be taken by the IRS. There is not a lot that your attorney can do about this — the government is due what they are due. However, they might be able to push for a structured settlement in which you would be rewarded your money a little at a time. This would give you time to pay off your tax debt so that your entire settlement would not simply go to the IRS immediately.
Throughout this process, remember that your attorney is a professional. He or she is not there to judge, so you should feel comfortable sharing the details above.
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