Also, the vehicle is not registered in my name, it is registered and own my by husband,

I doubt they will succeed in any attempt to collect anything.

First of all, if this woman was mentally ill, why did her family wait until her suicide to claim her? If they truly had cared for her, they would have gotten her help of some sort. Especially since you say she had a long record of this type of behavior.

With the proof you have of her behavior and the fact that your husband was not issued a citation at the scene, I do not feel a jury will award the family a dime. In most cases where a jury or judge decides to award for personal injury resulting in death, the basis of that award is the loss of income that person provided to raise their children or support a spouse. In this case, I doubt she was supporting anyone.

The other situation where money is awarded is when a criminal act caused the death or injury. If the facts are as you have stated, it sounds as if your husband was acting in a normal manner and well within his rights. No crime was committed.

I would advise you to speak to an attorney in your area, as different courts do see things different. For example, there have been situations where a police officer will shoot and kill a violent criminal and the family will be awarded money. However, many of these cases are overturned on appeal.

Good luck to you and your husband and I am sorry you are feeling the sting of this womans personal choice.

If the woman was actually diagnosed as being mentally challenged and there are multiple records of her walking into traffic (and/or other indications of suicide attempts), and your huband was was not exceeding the speed limit, it sounds like you have a strong case. As to whether you assests are at risk if there was a decision against your husband, that probably depends on whether or not New York is a community property state. I do recommend that you hire a good lawyer who specializes in this kind of thing.

The insurance company is coming after you because you are the policy holder. What I'm confused about is if they are not paying out any monies to the woman's family then why are they coming after you for money that they never paid? That doesn't make sense. I'm not an attorney so nothing I say here should be construed as legal advice. Your insurance company should be going to bat on your behalf. It seems that if they can prove that the woman who walked into traffic and caused the accident was a fault then maybe there's a way to go after her estate for damages to your vehicle and emotional damages to your husband? I know that may sound callous because she died but if she had lived and it could be proven that she caused the accident she would be in trouble legally for that. The only difference is that she would have been alive to face the music instead of deceased. My heart goes out to your husband and what he must be going through emotionally from all this. Suicide is such a selfish act although I do have sympathy for those who are so very mentally ill they cannot appreciate the consequences of what they are doing. My sister committed suicide several years ago and I'm so thankful that no one was injured when she jumped from the 5th floor of the building she was living in.

I would retain the services of a good attorney if you can manage it. It's seems that your insurance company is not doing it's job very well. What jerks! You an call your local Attorney Referral Service that is provided by your local Bar Association. Just Google "Attorney Referral Service" and the name of the county where you live or just call your local Bar Association and see if they can give you the contact information for their Attorney Referral Service (if they have one). If you explain the situation they should be able to refer you to an attorney that specializes in the type of law specific to your situation.

I wish you the very best of luck and you have my sympathies dealing with this very difficult situation.

Ugh! You beat me to it MO-MAMA. Great advice as always!

Unless you are a famous celebrity or millionaire, I can't see why would the lawyer would sue you and your husband. The reason why you have insurance is so that if you are found liable that you will not have to pay out of your pocket. Insurance companies have what they refer to as "deep pockets", unlike regular people that live paycheck to paycheck. I can't understand why the laywer would not add the insurance company to the lawsuit, but even if they were left out, I would that that the insurance company would want to join in the suit to help defend you so that a judgment is not entered. If the woman who died has a history of walking into oncoming traffic, and there is no evidence of your husband driving recklessly, it is unlikely that they would prevail. As far as the statute of limitations, that is a defense that you must raise. Plaintiffs can still obtain judgments past the statute of limitations if the defendant does not raise the issue.