Personal Injury Trust Creation
When you file a personal injury or medical negligence claim, you will be paid when your case is settled. Your settlement may mean that you are no longer eligible (if you are now) to receive means-tested state benefits or if your injuries are so severe that you may need to in the future. The compensation may reduce or even stop your entitlement or any future entitlement to means-tested benefits such as those listed below.
Your compensation is not taken into account in any means-tested for state benefits when you create a Personal Injury Trust. Instead of receiving your compensation directly, a Trust is established and your money is held by your chosen Trustees.
The Trustees you select will take care of the Trust and manage it on your behalf.
Before you settle your claim, your personal injury solicitor should discuss with you whether you ought to create a Personal Injury Trust.
Our Personal Injury Trust solicitors can assist you in dealing with this promptly and effectively.
Contact us right away if you wish to speak with one of our expert solicitors.
Why Do I need a Personal Injury Trust?
After receiving compensation for a personal injury or medical negligence claim, a Personal Injury Trust can aid in protecting any existing or future means-tested benefits. Among the examples of the means tested benefits are:
- Working Families Tax Credits
- Disabled persons Tax Credit
- Employment and Support Allowance
You can understand why a Personal Injury Trust is crucial when you consider that if you have more than £6,000 in savings, your benefits could be cut, and if you have more than £16,000 in savings, your payments could be completely stopped.
When to set up Personal Injury Trust
In accordance with the guidelines, the first payment you get following a personal injury is discarded for a 52-week period for determining your eligibility.
It's always advisable to have the Personal Injury Trust established before you get any compensation funds so that it is immediately ignored from eligibility evaluations.
Protecting Your Money from Divorce or Bankruptcy
Protecting your settlement from bankruptcy or divorce is challenging.
If you want to try to preserve your settlement in the event of a divorce, you might want to consider a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement. The requirements of the children and those who are less financially secure will be taken into consideration, even though the Court now does accord these agreements some weight.
However, the Court will take this into careful consideration in any subsequent disputes if your Trust exists to assist in paying for your future care following a major accident.
