The Arizona Supreme Court weighed what happens to personal injury settlement proceeds when a party divorces, and held that a couple's multimillion-dollar settlement agreement with a pacemaker manufacturer did not amount to a post-nuptial agreement and that the bulk of the money, roughly $4.2 million, should be considered community property.

Tommy Sowards had open heart surgery to install a pacemaker, but later learned that the procedure had been unnecessary, according to the opinion. Sowards, and his wife Barbara, then sued the doctor, hospital, and the pacemaker manufacturer for medical malpractice and claimed personal injury to Tommy Sowards and loss of consortium on behalf of Barbara Sowards. The couple further alleged injury to the marital estate.