How Fast Can a Settlement Payment be Received?
The question of when or if a settlement will occur in a personal injury accident is often responded to with a vague answer: it depends. A lot of different factors go into driving a case to a settlement or away from one. These include:
- Cooperation before court or a settlement in court
- Whether insurance is involved
- Can the case be settled for less than what would occur if the case is judged?
- The facts of the case and how strong they are
- The skill of the attorneys involved
- Whether anyone involved is actually what is known as a foreign party legally from outside the country (yes it happens more often than people think)
There is no benchmark that says all injury cases of a certain type shall always take six months, etc. Again, how the case progresses can influence whether things progress fast or slow.
That said, one common factor in all cases tends to be whether the parties are willing to compromise. If so, then a settlement is likely and will happen faster than when parties want to win at all costs.
Once a settlement has been achieved, if it’s in court it needs to be approved by the judge. If not in court yet, it can be achieved with a settlement agreement.
Once the settlement is approved or agreed, then the settlement payment process happens fairly fast. A gross payment is issued to a party’s attorney. That office then takes out its costs and fees, and the net settlement amount is paid to the client.
Keep in mind, depending on the settlement type, taxes may be owed. Check with your tax advisor whether that applies to your situation or not. Your attorney should provide a tax report for filing at the end of the year known as a “1099 form.”
