| A new New York law put into place in January 2006 | | | | When a wrongful death suit is tentatively settled |
| means that when you settle your wrongful death | | | | now, your attorney must apply to the TRIAL court |
| case, you will be entitled to earn interest on your | | | | for permission to tentatively settle the case. Once |
| money, while you wait for the Surrogate's Court to | | | | the trial court grants their approval, the attorney is |
| finalize your settlement. | | | | able to submit closing papers to the insurance |
| In the past, when a wrongful death case was | | | | company that will allow your lawyer to obtain your |
| settled, litigants needed to wait for approval from | | | | settlement check. From that check, the attorney will |
| the Surrogate's Court in order to have the Court | | | | be able to immediately (subject to the trial court |
| oversee and supervise how the monies would be | | | | giving approval) retrieve his expenses that he has |
| distributed to the family members. The problem was | | | | documented to the satisfaction of the court, and also |
| that the Surrogate's Court would often take many | | | | be able to obtain his (or her) attorney's fee. |
| months to reach a conclusion before rendering a final | | | | Once that has happened, the case then awaits final |
| decision that allowed the litigants the approval | | | | approval from the Surrogate's Court to decide how |
| necessary to obtain their settlement monies. During | | | | the settlement monies will be distributed. During this |
| those months spent waiting for court approval, their | | | | hiatus, interest is being generated for the benefit of |
| settlement money was being held by the insurance | | | | the litigant, so that when the money is distributed, |
| companies, and gaining interest for the benefit of the | | | | the interest is also divided according to the formula |
| insurance companies. | | | | worked out by the court. |
| This has now changed. | | | | |