Q: My case settled and Decree was entered 20 days ago , which stated settlement to be paid within 10 days from date
However paralegal stated that didn't apply to us for whatever reason, this was a wrongful death surrogates case ,and now I'm told the defense is refusing to send the release papers without a final lien letter from medicaid ,however that was all established when they didn't show for court to dispute said Decree, so now I am waiting for what's next ,I'm a bit confused
Attorney stated he will schedule a conference but no conference is on file as of yet and case states disposed with final Decree and order ,what is left to do ?
A:
The Court order governs the time in which the defendant has to make payment on the settlement. If payment is not contingent on receipt of Medicaid lien, it's not contingent. Although most insurance carriers will not issue a check until they are satisfied that there are no outstanding Medicare / Medicaid liens, they arguably waived that argument by not contesting the proposed Decree. Moreover it is unlikely the Court would have signed off on the proposed Decree without having first received something in writing that there were no outstanding Medicare / Medicaid liens.
Check with your attorneys to see if the necessary letters were obtained from Medicare / Medicaid. Although you could conceivably try to enter judgment against the defendant for failure to timely pay the judgment, even assuming the insurance company issued the check, your attorney would still not be able to release the proceeds until such time as the liens were resolved. Best to just ascertain the liens with Medicare / Medicaid and get them paid in full.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
A: Your attorney knows your file more thoroughly than any of us here could know, and has apparently brought the case a significant milestone for it to reach this point. Sometimes things could depend on the HRA attorney (if one has been assigned, depending on the amount of the lien). Good luck
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