Originally Posted by
43Inches
That case assumes only property damage, the other aspect is if somebody is injured, which is the case among the pilots I know that have had to leave Aus, and other countries. That's where civil cases get ugly and multiple claimants, just damaging a Boeing would be straight forward. Also declaring bankruptcy is not something you want to do lightly, it will effect everything you try to do afterwards financially based. And that's assuming you are not already financially well off, with family and independent, there's a lot to lose then.
I really think you're stretching the truth with some of these claims and scare-mongering. Even
if there is a personal injury claim involved, it is treated no differently to a property claim in civil litigation. "We blame you for us incurring these dollars, and we are suing you to recover these dollars..." it matters not
why they blame you either covering someone's bills who got hurt or someone's property you broke...
Assuming you are fortunate enough to own your own home outright,
and there is a lawsuit brought against you
and you choose not to defend it or not re-mortgage your house to defend it or
and the judgement goes against you (naturally it will if you don't defend yourself!) the absolute worst that can happen is your and your missus' "Joint Tenancy" will become "Tenants in Common", and the plaintiff will seek to recover the 50% of your home's value by giving your missus the chance to buy it, or if that fails, the property will usually be sold, with 50% of the proceeds then being given to your missus. The insurance company won't get the
full value of the house just because
one of you declares bankruptcy, nor can they try to go after your families assets or assets not in your name (or joint names) to try to recoup some of their costs. That's not how it works.
You will still be bankrupt, but you
won't always lose your house, and at the expiration of the bankruptcy period (3 years now - I thought it used to be 7) you can start to pick up the pieces. Hell, you can even hold down a job
during your bankruptcy and so long as you don't earn above a certain amount, you won't have to chip in any $$ to the bankruptcy trustee so you can pay back your wife for having to buy out your share of the family home!