Personal Injury Lawsuit

A common bit of wisdom personal injury attorneys often hear is that in the case of most large injury settlements the client has spent all of their money within 6 months of payment. There are many factors that should be considered when a settlement or verdict is awarded to an injury victim to avoid the pitfalls that often come where money is concerned. Many times, in the case of a large net settlement to an injury victim, the temptation is to buy things, make poor investment decisions, or loan money to friends or relatives who suddenly see the personal injury victim flush with cash. It is important to remember that an injury victim’s net settlement is their compensation for life changing injuries and expenditures unrelated to the injury should be made with great caution.

A structured settlement takes the clients net monetary award and gives the personal injury victim a guaranteed return on their injury settlement. The client can take part of the amount awarded now and put the balance into a structured settlement. The remaining amount can be paid out on virtually any schedule the client wants. This flexibility allows the injured party to choose the payment schedule that best suits their recovery needs, whether the payments are for a fixed period of time or over the claimant’s lifetime. Obviously, the longer the money is not drawn upon the greater the amount received over time as the passage of time allows the principal and interest to continually grow tax free. It should be noted that interest rates on structured settlements, as with almost any monetary vehicle, can vary from day to day. A structured settlement expert can “lock in” for the life of the structure the best interest rate available at the time the structured settlement is purchased.

It is important for any personal injury client, especially those who are to receive a significant amount of money, to discuss the pros and cons of a structured settlement with both their personal injury attorney as well as a qualified structured settlement specialist to determine if placement of all or part of your personal injury settlement in such a vehicle is the right thing for you.