The link between asbestos exposure and an increased risk of diseases such as mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, or other diseases was conclusively established in the 1970s. When this information was made public, many companies that were involved in the manufacturing or sale of asbestos products were forced to declare bankruptcy.

As a part of their bankruptcy filings, many of these companies were required to create trust funds in order to compensate individuals who had developed asbestos-related illnesses as a result of exposure to the companies’ products, those who became sick as a result of asbestos exposure at a later date, or their families. After these companies were granted bankruptcy protection by the courts, these trust funds handled all asbestos-related claims and payouts involving the companies.

What is the difference between an asbestos lawsuit and an asbestos trust claim?

Asbestos lawsuits involve taking action in court against companies that were involved in the manufacturing of asbestos-containing products or whose actions contributed to workers or other individuals being diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, or other diseases as a result of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos litigation can be divided into two types: personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits.

Personal injury asbestos claims are filed by or on behalf of a person who is still living and who has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease. Although the statute of limitations for filing an asbestos personal injury claim varies by state, generally the limitation for filing such a claim is two to four years after date on which the individual was diagnosed with a disease caused by asbestos exposure.

Wrongful death asbestos claims are filed on behalf of a deceased individual who was diagnosed with an asbestos illness, either by their family member or another loved one. As with asbestos personal injury claims, the statute of limitations for these claims is generally two to four years, although these too vary by state.

In cases where the company that was responsible for an individual’s asbestos exposure has gone bankrupt, attorneys representing the individual may file a claim with an asbestos trust fund. The difference between an asbestos lawsuit and an asbestos trust claim is that asbestos trust claims are not lawsuits. Rather, these actions involve filing a claim with an asbestos bankruptcy trust on behalf of victims of asbestos exposure or their families.

Typically, the payouts for asbestos trust claims are lower than those awarded in asbestos lawsuits. However, because of how these trusts are structured, victims of asbestos exposure or their families may be able to receive a payout faster from an asbestos trust than by filing a lawsuit in order to pay medical bills or other expenses that have accumulated after their diagnosis with an asbestos-related disease.

Who is eligible to file an asbestos trust claim?

Individuals who were exposed to asbestos and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related diseases may be eligible to file an asbestos trust claim if the company that was responsible for their asbestos exposure has declared bankruptcy.

In the event that the individual who was exposed is deceased, or is unable to file a claim because of their illness, the family members of the exposed individual may also be eligible to file a claim with an asbestos trust fund.

Asbestos trust claimants are not limited to filing a claim with one asbestos bankruptcy trust. In cases where an individual’s asbestos exposure was caused by more than one company on the list of asbestos bankruptcy trust funds, victims of exposure or their families may be eligible to file claims with multiple trusts.

What is the average payout for an asbestos trust claim?

The value of each asbestos trust claim is determined by three factors: the specific disease with which the claimant was diagnosed; the scheduled value of that disease with the individual asbestos trust; and the current payment percentage of the trust.

“Scheduled value” refers to the amount assigned by the trust for each specific asbestos-related disease. According to legal experts consulted by the RAND Institute, this value is usually set at slightly above 50 percent of the previous settlement amounts paid by that company to other individuals who were diagnosed with the same disease. For mesothelioma, the average scheduled value across all asbestos trusts was $126,000, with some trusts assigning a scheduled value of as high as $1.2 million.

“Payment percentage” refers to the percentage of the scheduled value for each disease that will be paid out of the asbestos trust to individual claimants. In most cases, asbestos trusts do not have enough funds available to pay each claim in full, so a payment percentage is determined by the courts and the trusts. The average payment percentage across all asbestos trusts for mesothelioma claims is 25 percent; for some trusts, the payment percentage is as high as 100 percent.

For mesothelioma trust claims, the average payout after the scheduled value and payment percentage is taken into consideration was between $27,000 and $41,000, with some claims resulting in payouts as high as $238,000-240,000.

Do I qualify to file an claim with an asbestos trust?

If you or a loved one were exposed to asbestos and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, or other diseases caused by asbestos exposure, you may be eligible to take legal action or file a claim with an asbestos bankruptcy trust to receive compensation.

In order to begin the process of filing a claim, it is important to seek the assistance of an experienced asbestos litigation attorney. An experienced attorney can help you determine whether filing a lawsuit or an asbestos trust claim is the best course of action in your case, help you to identify all of the trusts funds with which you may qualify to file a claim, and guide you and your family through the steps that are involved in taking legal action.