United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

ok, we settled out of court and now I need insight as to what to do with money.

Lawyer gets 33% plus expenses (I am ok with that)
but I have to give receipts and detailed explanation for wanting to keep less than 10% for what we have already incurred and we just did surgery on Wednesday so we will start therapy again at $30 out of pocket a pop and so I need a little cash to pay for the immediate future items and I have to ....... FRUSTRATING that I have to explain every penny I would like to reimburse myself but lawyer gets 33% without a thought. Who has paid the doctor bills and therapy and EVERYTHING for 5 years... ME!

How do we plan for the WHAT IF's (as the commercial says)?
Once we make the decisions it is set in stone and not touched until 18 years old... what if he needs adjustment to his car at age 16? What about the fact that we will not know if he will need another surgery or more therapy?

Thanks for letting me vent / rant... any advice is always appreciated.

there are a few options and be very careful now with your decisions because if you think that the current expenditures are alot --- hold on to your keister when you see how much can be lost at the other end!

feel free to email me francine@litzfamily.com

I would talk to a trust company that deals with special needs trusts they invest the money and provide you with money for what ever the child needs including a car or bike specially adapted to your childs needs.

before you make any decisions, find yourself a good trust attorney who will sit down with you for an hour and explain all that is available in your jurisdiction..... what you are allowed or not allowed to do goes by jurisdiction - it's not the same everywhere.

I agree with Francine....what you can do is garnered by jurisdiction.

We settled 6 years ago and were told by the judge what our options were (we had to do what he wanted or he wouldn't sign off...). Our lawyers had prepared us for what we were allowed to do with the money. However, in our meeting with the judge, he agreed to set aside a certain amount of money that would be accessible to us. We pay, and then we submit a letter with receipts to our attorney who then requests the money from the court. We then, get a court order which we take to the bank and they cut us a check. It isn't the fastest method, I assure you... but it has worked for us.

Most judges like the money to be SAFE. As it is not your money, but your child's. They mostly take a dim view of "gambling" with it. So, especially in light of last year's crash, the stock market would probably not be permitted. It wasn't even an option for us. Granted, I would be having kittens right about now if we HAD put her money in the stock market and it lost 1/2 its value. So, we have a safe place for it and she will have access to it before too long.

Try not to be frustrated with the system. Even though you don't want to rook your child, many people do. And they are there to protect your child's money. It can be extremely frustrating especialy on top of all the other things you have to take care of, I know that.

We found that using one credit card for as much of the stuff we paid for as possible made it easier for us to show the courts what we spent. After I paid the bills, I would keep them in a file. However, most therapy facilities wanted cash or check....made my brilliant plan, not so brilliant. But, when we would travel out of town for her (plane tix, co-pays, food) we would use that one credit card and not worry so much about the actual receipts.

good luck,
claudia