Boyce v. Boyce

TERRY, Associate Judge:

In this divorce case, we consider a question of first impression in the District of Columbia: whether an inchoate personal injury claim is marital property or the separate property of the injured spouse. The trial court chose the latter alternative. We disagree, and accordingly we reverse that portion of its judgment.

I

After twenty-one years of marriage, Lincoln and Daisy Boyce went their separate ways. The couple had split up and reconciled on previous occasions, but in June 1982 they separated permanently, and in October 1985 they were divorced. During their marriage…