by Thomas D. Begley, Jr., CELA<\/p>\n
Settlement Protection Trusts can be very useful tools in the settlement of a personal injury case. A Settlement Protection Trust is very flexible. However, it cannot be used where an individual is receiving means-tested public benefits. A Settlement Protection Trust is essentially a Support Trust designed to provide for the health, education, maintenance and support of the trust beneficiary.<\/p>\n
A budget is prepared and the trustee can often simply write a monthly check to the beneficiary, so that the beneficiary can pay all of his or her monthly bills. In other cases, the beneficiary will simply obtain a credit card and send the credit card bills to the trustee for payment, so long as the expenditures are within the agreed-upon budget. The budget should be designed so that the money will last as long as the plaintiff lives, if that is possible.<\/p>\n