Yes, you can potentially sue your ex for emotional distress, but it's challenging and requires proving extreme conduct (like abuse, harassment, threats) caused a severe, medically-documented psychological injury (like PTSD, depression, anxiety) beyond normal relationship upset, needing strong evidence like medical records and communications to show a direct link, with successful cases often involving criminal acts or severe negligence, so consulting a lawyer is crucial.
Recovering financially for emotional distress is not an easy feat. You will need to show that your former spouse (the defendant) behaved in an outrageous manner that caused you severe emotional harm. Your spouse's conduct might have been wrong and hurtful, but it still might not be actionable legally.
How To Prove Emotional Distress
Emotional distress damages are often subjective, and the amounts awarded vary widely depending on the circumstances, the available evidence, and the jurisdiction. Some claims may result in modest compensation, while others have led to verdicts worth hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars.
Successful emotional distress cases in Australia show that compensation is possible, but claims require: ✅ Clear evidence of psychological harm (e.g., PTSD, anxiety disorder, depression). ✅ Proof of negligence or misconduct by the responsible party. ✅ Strong legal representation to fight for fair compensation.
Because divorce in Australia is 'no fault' divorce, it is very unlikely that the mental health of one spouse could be relevant to a property dispute. It could be relevant that one spouse or partner was not able to contribute to the family income because they were unable to work because of a mental health condition.
Generally speaking, emotional distress cases are notoriously difficult to win. This is because our courts require sufficient and compelling proof that the plaintiff suffered severe emotional stress via the direct witnessing of said event.
The hardest injuries to prove are often soft tissue injuries (like whiplash), chronic pain conditions (like fibromyalgia), and psychological trauma (like PTSD), because they lack clear physical evidence on standard scans (X-rays, MRIs) and rely heavily on subjective symptoms and documentation, making them challenging to link directly to an accident for insurance or legal claims. Internal injuries or mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) can also be difficult as symptoms might not appear immediately or show on initial tests.
The average PTSD settlement amount is often between $10,000 and $100,000. Factors that influence the amount include injury severity, loss of income, how fault is determined, and the impact of injuries on everyday life.
Emotional abuse refers to a situation when a person willfully causes or permits a child to suffer, inflicts unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering on a child, or willfully causes or permits the child to be placed in a situation in which their health is endangered while under their custody.
If a neighbor's actions have caused severe emotional distress, the victim may file a civil case for damages. This usually entails hiring a lawyer to send a demand letter, followed by a lawsuit if necessary. Mediation or barangay conciliation processes are also available as less confrontational options.
Here are five signs that may mean someone is in emotional pain and might need help:
Yes, but you can only sue in rare situations in which your ex's behavior was really bad and the distress you suffer is severe. In some states, you must have physical symptoms to move a case forward. You do not need to have suffered physical abuse, but a standard breakup is not enough.
Obtaining comprehensive medical records is a vital step in proving emotional distress. These records should include detailed psychiatric evaluations, therapy notes, and any other relevant medical documentation.
So what can you do if your ex or soon-to-be-ex is talking trash about you? Talk to your attorney about getting a court order that prohibits either of you from maligning the other to your children or others. By being proactive about this, you strengthen your position in the divorce.
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Soft tissue injuries typically affect muscles, tendons, and ligaments and most often occur during sports and exercise. Sprains, strains, and contusions, as well as tendinitis and bursitis, are common soft-tissue injuries. Even with appropriate treatment, these injuries may require a long time to heal.
To prove emotional distress in court, it's essential to draw a direct connection between the defendant's actions and the emotional suffering experienced. Strong proof, such as medical records, psychological evaluations, journal entries, and witness observations, helps demonstrate how the trauma affected daily life.
Severe grief or anxiety: Grief and anxiety are normal, but when they affect your ability to live your life, it may be considered emotional damage. Fear or phobias: Such as fear of driving after a crash. Sleep disturbances or insomnia: Inability to sleep after an event.
Evidence can take the form of testimony, documents, photographs, videos, voice recordings, DNA testing, or other tangible objects. Courts cannot admit all evidence, as evidence must be admissible under that jurisdiction's rules of evidence (see below) in order to be presented to court.
The biggest mistake in a custody battle is losing sight of the child's best interests by prioritizing parental conflict, anger, or revenge, which courts view very negatively. This often manifests as bad-mouthing the other parent, alienating the child, refusing to cooperate, or involving the child in disputes, all of which signal poor co-parenting and harm the case.
Coercive control, which is a prevalent factor in domestic and family violence, is recognised in Australian law as a form of abuse. Many of the behaviours that are present in narcissistic abuse have a crossover with domestic and family abuse – even in the absence of physical abuse or sexual abuse.