Q: If I’m involved in a personal injury lawsuit can the check effect my social security disability payments?
My attorney refuses to cut me a check after years stating it would affect my disability social security. Is this true?
A: Your attorney does not have a choice regarding cutting you a. Check. File a grievance with the State Bar of Texas
A:
A personal injury settlement can, but does not necessarily, affect your social security disability payments. If a portion of the settlement is for lost wages, it can affect the amount of your payments. If the settlement is for past and future medical expenses, pain & suffering, property damage, or other out-of-pocket compensable damages, it should not affect your disability payments. Typically, if the settlement includes lost wages, any settlement can be structured to include a settlement trust to avoid reducing your disability payments. It may be that is what happened in your case.
Take your settlement documents to another attorney with experience in personal injury law in or near the county where your other attorney's office is. He/she ought to be able to tell you whether you have the right to immediate payment of the funds held by your attorney and whether receipt of such payment will affect your social security disability payments. If you are entitled to immediate payment, Ms. White is correct that filing a grievance with the State Bar will likely be your least expensive and most effective way to receive your payment promptly.
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