Q: What can I go after in a law suit if the person owns a home and nothing else?
I was in an auto accident where I received permanent injuries to my spine. The driver had a very small bodily injury coverage which I received the full amount in. I was informed by several people, as well as looking it up in the Florida state laws, that I can go after the driver/owner of the vehicle for pain and suffering due to my permanent injuries, but I’ve been told by my attorney that I have nothing to pursue because the owner only owns a home, and of course we can’t go after that because of the homestead act, she said there is no other assets I can sue for so I can not seek additional compensation, is this true? I figured if they owned a home they at least had a decent income that they could make payment with, had never heard of not being able to sue someone because they don’t own more than a single home, but just wanted to confirm this is true.
A: Upon receiving your settlement, you likely signed a release which means you can’t sue them for anything else. Also, you would have to go to court to a get judgment against them in order to potentially garnish their wages (not all income is garnishable). However, to go to court in a case like is probably not economically feasible as it would cost too much to get the judgment with a potential likelihood of not being able to actually collect.
Charles M. Baron agrees with this answer
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