Not sure if this belongs in GQ nor whether there is any kind of limitation on asking legal questions but here goes anyway…
My folks are retired and live in Missouri. They own there home free and clear which is worth about $100k and have a few dollars salted away. Probably less than $50k. They pull a trailer down to Texas in the winter.
A couple of years ago they had a fender bender with another guy down in Brownsville, TX who claimed his knee was hurt. I used “whiplash” figuratively… don’t think the actual medical condition really matters does it. I assume he can find a doctor that will claim his cut knee has prevented his earning a livlihood as a librarian. My issue is more how he might strategically defend himself and protect his assets.
The guy served him a few weeks ago. Dad contacted State Farm immediately. Apparently the insurance company has been in contact with him since the accident but wasn’t able to settle. The guy wants $250k and my dad’s insurance coverage was limited to $100k I think.
Any general comments/suggestions are welcome.
Questions:
Should my dad get his own attorney and not rely on the insurance company?
Should he just leave Texas and never go back?
Should he give away all his money to the kids?
I don’t know jack about this kind of thing but I think he should let the insurance company handle it.
I can’t remember his user name but I think it is something like Indigo Montoya? or something like that. He can probably help as if I remeber right his career is in the insurance field.
I am not a lawyer, but I despise them as much as anyone else (except for my own, of course… 
)
It is highly unlikely a plaintiff’s attorney in a tort of this sort will ever go after personal assets. If Dad is insured you can be reasonably sure the limit of any settlement will be the policy limit. Even the tort system knows not to bite the hand that feeds it. What is State Farm telling Dad?
Oh yeah…in the future get umbrella insurance. My WAG is that it’s tough to shift personal asset ownership after the fact of being served, but hey, them lawyers are a lot cleverer than I.
Not very helpful at this point in your father’s case, but I agree w/ Chief Pedant that an umbrella (general liability) policy is needed by most people, they’re relatively inexpensive and good protection for your assets.
You can’t assume that the claim is bogus, but that’s something for his insurance company to ascertain.
It might be wise to run this by a personal atty., but that’s a judgement call. If he has experience w/ an atty. that he trusts I would recommend it. Most cases like this are usually settled by the insurance company, but it depends on the specific circumstances. Even if you provided all the details, it’s unlikely you’re going to get any kind of definitive answer to your question.