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CONSULTING
WITH PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS
A personal injury
settlement or judgment can have serious and unexpected effects related to
various governmental benefit programs. To protect the interests of their
clients, Personal Injury attorneys need to evaluate a number of critical
issues:
- The
impact of Medicare and Medicaid subrogation claims
- Whether
your client will lose government benefits once the settlement is
received
- Whether
a Special Needs Trust can protect your client’s benefits
- Whether
there are other strategies in addition to or in lieu of a Special
Needs Trust to protect benefits
Government benefit
programs are complex and varied in terms of eligibility criteria.
The receipt of a personal injury settlement does not affect some
benefits such as Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Medicare.
Other benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and
Medicaid, will be terminated once a settlement is received unless the
settlement is transferred to a Special Needs Trust.
A Special Needs Trust is not available or appropriate in all
circumstances, however.
The attorneys at
Isenhour Bleck have over 60 years of combined experience with government
benefit programs. Our law firm frequently consults with personal injury
attorneys regarding the impact of a personal injury settlement on a
client’s government benefits. We
can review the government benefits your client is currently receiving or
is likely to receive in the future. We
can then advise you regarding how a settlement will affect those benefits
and what steps, if any, can be taken to protect those benefits.
Our law firm has extensive expertise in drafting Special Needs
Trusts to preserve government benefits in appropriate cases.
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