Q: If I put money to the side from my settlement for surgery am I entitled to the money if I don’t get the surgery?
A: The short answer is "yes." It sounds like you had a consultation with a surgeon for your accident-related injuries, and that there was no insurance coverage for surgery (or possibly there WAS coverage, but your insurance carrier would not pre-authorize surgery, or that the cost of surgery would have exceeded the policy's limits). In response, your attorney might have agreed to a lien on your case to cover the cost of surgery, if performed. This may not exactly fit all such scenarios, and one would need to see your lien agreement or other related agreements between your attorney and surgeon's office. But in general, for what you loosely describe in the brief post, the money should stay with the client if it wasn't spent on surgery (subject to reviewing the file and its agreements - no guarantees on that opinion). Good luck
A: The short answer is yes. If you already received the settlement proceeds, you can spend it however you see fit. Keep in mind that if end up having surgery, the $ to pay for the surgery may no longer be available. Also, if you are a Medicare beneficiary and the funds were being kept in a Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) for future surgery, if you end up having surgery down the line, Medicare will not cover it.
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