by frenchie72 » Tue Jun 05, 2012 08:53 pm
My mom was driving the company vehicle made a wide turn and hit another person. I'm assuming her job had auto insurance and the other driver sued their insurance company. Last year they filed a law suit stating my mom needs to pay $80,000 and so she filed banruptcy and after a year it has surfaced again. Now the attorneys from her employment says she needs to appear. Can they still sue my mom after she has filed bankruptcy?
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 01:30 pm Post Subject:
Did someone obtain a legal judgment against your mother? She can't just go to bankruptcy court and hide. If a particular debt was not discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding, it is still collectible. A person may only file for personal bankruptcy once in ten years, so mom may have done this all wrong. Additionally, certain claims may not be discharged in a bankruptcy.
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 02:42 pm Post Subject: Bankruptcy
They filed a legal judgement against her but that wasnt the reason why she filed bakruptcy. She didnt even know she was being sued until she received the judgement and she filed with her other debts. She thought that her employer auto insurance have took care of that since she was on the clock driving their vehicle at the time of the accident. If it was discharged in her bankruptcy can they re filled a suit against her?
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 08:09 pm Post Subject:
If it was discharged in her bankruptcy can they re filled a suit against her?
NO. If they do attempt to sue, your mother would go to court and demand summary judgment based on the bankruptcy discharge (she would need to provide a copy of the final bankruptcy petition showing which debts were discharged).
Her employer should have had a commercial auto insurance coverage, and if your mother was sued, that insurance company should have provided a defense in the name of her employer (who should have been sued along with her).
I don't know how a judgment could have been obtained against your mother without her knowledge. She would have had to be served with a summons and the plaintiff's petition. IIf she was never served and a "default judgment" was entered against her, it may still be possible to petition the court to have that judgment set aside and hold a new trial.
Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 02:29 am Post Subject:
In addition to providing your mother with a defense, the employer should also indemnify her (i.e. pay the judgment), provided she was acting within the scope of her employment at the time of the accident. Check first to ensure that the matter has indeed evolved to a judgment, it sounds more like it is still in the litigation phase if she is being called upon to testify in Court. She would be well advised to consult with an attorney about any exposure she may have from that lawsuit. She may also wish to discuss this matter with her bankruptcy attorney to see if the bankruptcy can be modified to include the judgment, if the matter is deemed to have accrued prior to her bankruptcy discharge.
Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 04:30 am Post Subject:
There are a ton of things wrong in that situation.
Your mother could not have been personally sued without being served. As she is an individual, someone would have needed to either hand her the suit or make _many_ attempts to server her personally (and inform her by mail) and then finally obtain authorization from a judge to put out a notice in a public form (such as a newspaper). But after all of those attempts, you mother would know someone was trying to server her legal documents. So I don't see that her first notification would have been the judgement.
There are only a few state where the owners insurance company can be included in the suit. Even then, the driver and owner/company are also named. Was their insurance on the vehicle at the time of the loss? You do say that the "insurance company" was sued (which I kind of doubt). The insurance company should have provided a defense. What was that defense? Was a settlement made? If so, it should have included your mother.
What you really need to do is have your mother contact the employer and find out what _really_ happen. From you post I'm getting the impression that your mother has always just ignored the situation and thought it would just vanish. As you can see, this does not work very well.
Last year they filed a law suit stating my mom needs to pay $80,000 and so she filed banruptcy
They filed a legal judgement against her but that wasnt the reason why she filed bakruptcy.
Well, that is what you posted.
You state that they obtained a judgement but then she filed. So what were the terms of the bankruptcy?
She didnt even know she was being sued until she received the judgement and she filed with her other debts. She thought that her employer auto insurance have took care of that since she was on the clock driving their vehicle at the time of the accident.
The obtain a judgement against your mother and she things that her employer just magically took care of the $80,000 debt? But then you also state she filed for bankruptcy and thought that took care of the debt. Which is it?As I stated, there is a ton of information missing.
Add your comment