Can you file both a lawsuit and a trust fund claim?

A patient may have both a lawsuit and trust fund claims if their exposure history involves both solvent and bankrupt companies. An attorney coordinates the timing of each path and accounts for any state rules that affect how these compensation types interact.

How much money remains in asbestos trust funds?

Asbestos trust funds collectively hold more than $30 billion for current and future claims. Trusts use payment percentages to manage that money over time.

What happens if there is no trust and no solvent company to sue?

Although uncommon, other compensation may be available if neither a trust claim nor a lawsuit applies. For example, veterans may have VA benefit options, and some patients may qualify for disability-related support.

How does an attorney know which trust funds apply to my situation?

An attorney reviews the exposure history and matches it to bankrupt asbestos companies covering specific trusts. This review may include job titles, jobsites, products, dates, military service records and witness testimony. The goal is to identify which bankrupt manufacturers or suppliers may have caused the patient’s asbestos exposure.

Do I sue my former employer in an asbestos lawsuit?

Asbestos lawsuits generally target manufacturers, suppliers and sellers of asbestos products, not the patient’s former employer. Workers’ compensation laws usually limit lawsuits against employers. However, employment records can still help show where the patient worked and which asbestos products may have been present.

Is there one asbestos trust fund or many?

There are many asbestos trust funds. More than 60 active trusts exist, and each is tied to a specific bankrupt asbestos company. A patient may qualify for claims with multiple trusts if the exposure history connects to several bankrupt companies.

Mesothelioma Lawsuits vs. Trust Funds: Your Options

Mesothelioma Lawsuits vs. Trust Funds

Mesothelioma lawsuits and asbestos trust funds exist because not all companies that used asbestos ended up in the same legal and financial positions. Some companies remained solvent and may still face active lawsuits, while others entered bankruptcy and created trusts to pay current and future asbestos claims.

Mesothelioma lawsuits remain the path for claims involving companies that are still solvent. These cases may involve manufacturers, suppliers or sellers of asbestos products that contributed to a patient’s exposure.

Asbestos trust funds grew out of bankruptcy reorganizations that began after many asbestos companies faced large numbers of injury claims. Attorneys generally can’t sue a bankrupt company in the same way as a company that’s still operational. Instead, bankruptcy courts required many companies to create trusts with money set aside for when their asbestos products harm people. Today, more than 60 active asbestos trusts exist and hold more than $30 billion for current and future claims.

Lawsuits can pursue compensation from those solvent companies, while trust claims address bankrupt companies from an individual’s asbestos exposure history. Many patients have work, military or household exposure histories that involve multiple asbestos companies, which is why many people pursue both lawsuits and trust claims simultaneously.

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Carl Money, Attorney: Compensation Options That Can Help Mesothelioma Patients

You’re going to get compensation from the trial case. Know, you’re going to all the viable asbestos companies, they’re going to come and settle the case. Or you’re to take them the verdict and win that. You’re going to get compensation from the bankrupt defendants through the asbestos trust funds, and we’ll get as many as those we possibly can.

If you’re in the military, you can file a VA claim, and you should certainly be able to get one hundred percent disability if you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma because nearly everybody is exposed to asbestos at some point, especially Navy people, everybody was in the Navy, to asbestos containing products, you know, 50s, 60s, and 70s if you’re in the middle, maybe in the 80s if you’re in the military. These folks are going to incur a whole bunch of medical charges. It’s going to get be very, very expensive. And so, you know, there’s no known cure for mesothelioma.

And so there’ll be experiential treatments. There’s surgeries that could go forth.

You know, there’s the chemo. And it can get very, very expensive family very, very quickly. You know, at some point, I’ll file or we’ll file bankruptcy claims early. So, you know, say there’s, we can get one hundred thousand dollars quickly for the family to help them with medical expenses so that they can try some treatment that’s out there that’s very expensive, you know, or even more. Know, if they need more, we can get more. Or you will file bankruptcy claims and get them money quicker because the trial case, you know, hopefully we can get that done within a year, but sometimes it’ll take a little longer. It depends on if you’re going to get a trial setting or not.

What Determines Whether You Qualify for an Asbestos Lawsuit or Trust Fund?

The current status of companies responsible for asbestos exposure determines whether compensation comes through a lawsuit or trust fund claim. The attorney’s role is to review the facts and map the exposure history to the applicable legal options.

Lawsuit & Trust Eligibility

The current financial status of the companies that made, supplied, installed or sold the asbestos products connected to the exposure.
The number of companies involved across jobsites, military service, home repairs or secondhand exposure.
The evidence supporting a connection between the mesothelioma diagnosis and those asbestos products.

If the exposure history involves both types of companies, both systems may apply. This doesn’t mean the patient picks one system over the other. Instead, it means the facts support pursuing both a lawsuit and a trust claim.

Some states also have rules called setoffs that affect how recoveries from different systems interact. In a setoff, compensation recovered through trust fund payouts may affect recoveries through lawsuits under applicable state law.

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Common Misconceptions: Mesothelioma Lawsuits vs. Trust Funds

The circumstances in which attorneys can use mesothelioma lawsuits and trust funds differ, and there are several common misconceptions surrounding mesothelioma litigation. Understanding the key differences between lawsuits, trust funds, and other forms of compensation can help you determine which ones you can pursue.

Misconception vs. Reality

It’s a choice between the two: When a patient’s exposure history involves both bankrupt and solvent companies, both systems may be part of the compensation process.
A settlement and a trust fund payment are the same thing: A mesothelioma settlement is negotiated compensation from a lawsuit against a solvent company. On the other hand, a trust fund payment comes from a bankruptcy trust established for a company that can no longer defend itself in a lawsuit.
Lawsuits always pay more, so a lawsuit is always better: When an individual’s exposure history came from companies that are no longer solvent, a trust fund claim is the better path to pursue. A lawsuit is available only when a solvent company is responsible for part of the asbestos exposure.
Trust funds are running out of money: Companies funded asbestos trusts to pay current and future claims over time. Many trusts use payment percentages to manage reserves, so money remains available for future claimants.

An asbestos attorney may use work records, union records, military service records, product lists, witness statements and other evidence to identify the companies responsible for asbestos exposure. Contact an asbestos attorney and learn which legal options are available to you.

Expert Insight

“With the asbestos bankruptcy trusts, they pay a percentage of what the true litigation value is worth. Some of them pay 4% or 5% of what the value would be. Some of them pay more like 20% of what the value would be. And there are actually one or two that do pay the full value.”

Daniel Wasserberg , Asbestos Attorney

Common Questions About Mesothelioma Lawsuits and Trust Funds

Can you file both a lawsuit and a trust fund claim?: A patient may have both a lawsuit and trust fund claims if their exposure history involves both solvent and bankrupt companies. An attorney coordinates the timing of each path and accounts for any state rules that affect how these compensation types interact.
How much money remains in asbestos trust funds?: Asbestos trust funds collectively hold more than $30 billion for current and future claims. Trusts use payment percentages to manage that money over time.
What happens if there is no trust and no solvent company to sue?: Although uncommon, other compensation may be available if neither a trust claim nor a lawsuit applies. For example, veterans may have VA benefit options, and some patients may qualify for disability-related support.
How does an attorney know which trust funds apply to my situation?: An attorney reviews the exposure history and matches it to bankrupt asbestos companies covering specific trusts. This review may include job titles, jobsites, products, dates, military service records and witness testimony. The goal is to identify which bankrupt manufacturers or suppliers may have caused the patient’s asbestos exposure.
Do I sue my former employer in an asbestos lawsuit?: Asbestos lawsuits generally target manufacturers, suppliers and sellers of asbestos products, not the patient’s former employer. Workers’ compensation laws usually limit lawsuits against employers. However, employment records can still help show where the patient worked and which asbestos products may have been present.
Is there one asbestos trust fund or many?: There are many asbestos trust funds. More than 60 active trusts exist, and each is tied to a specific bankrupt asbestos company. A patient may qualify for claims with multiple trusts if the exposure history connects to several bankrupt companies.

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