Advice for Personal Injury Attorneys:
Advice for Personal Injury Attorneys: Special Needs Trusts, Medicare Set Asides and Beyond
You settled your client's case favorably. Now what?
Maximizing the benefit of your work when it comes to clients on public benefits.
Carol Wessels and Jessica Liebau are special needs trust attorneys who work with personal injury attorneys, probate attorneys, family law attorneys, and other attorneys to provide recommendations on how a settlement, judgment, or inheritance can be handled in the most effective way when the client receiving the funds is on public benefits. It is critical to begin working together well before funds are received and often before a settlement is finalized. If it is appropriate, we will help create a special needs trust, pooled trust account or settlement preservation trust for your client’s case. We provide hands-on co-counsel services related to the settlement of your matter, including drafting a petition to approve the settlement or trust, funding the trust, making all required reports to benefit agencies, and starting a probate or guardianship if needed. Contact our office to discuss how we can help with your case.
Do I need an MSA for my liability case?
Understanding Medicare Set-aside arrangements
A fairly recent development in personal injury and liability cases is the Medicare Third Party Payer enforcement. The concept itself is not new, but the enforcement has grown in the last several years. The principle is that where a client will need future medical care due to an injury, and that person is or will be on Medicare, a liability settlement must contain sufficient funds to cover Medicare's future costs as a result of the injury. This is called a Medicare Set-Aside (MSA).
If you are a personal injury attorney, we can advise whether an MSA is necessary in your client's case and can help you understand the options to handle those arrangements. It is critical that you address this issue before accepting a settlement in your client’s case. Contact Attorney Carol Wessels or Attorney Jessica Liebau to discuss your case.
