Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Washington

If you are in the middle of a personal injury case when you have to declare bankruptcy, what rights do you have over your claim? We have a trustee that told us he was getting all of a car accident settlement because we witheld the case from him. Then he admitted that we did indeed disclose the claim, but he already has the money and is not using it to pay medical bills that were incurred after the bankruptcy or satisfy the lien my insurance company has on the claim for the PIP coverage. He also is not releasing my share, which he says I'm not really entitled to. Our bankruptcy attorney says it is not worth his fighting for on our behalf, so we are left trying to deal on our own. Can we do anything? Do we have any recourse? Can we file a complaint with the trustee's superior? Have I lost all rights to any future claims on this case wihtout signing them away myself? Is it legal for them not to use the money specifically set aside in the car accident settlement for outstanding bills to pay those bills?


Asked on 10/08/09, 7:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James Vasquez In Pacta, PLLC

Your attorney is wrong to not represent you as it is part of the bankruptcy filing. Any award from a personal injury case is exempt to the extent of $15,000.00 not including any payment for pain and suffering and wage loss. See, 11 USC 522 11(d) &(e). Therefore the trustee has no right to keep those funds or use them to repay creditors. your attorney should have claimed your personal injury award as exempt. If he did not he should have amended the schedules to claim it as exempt. Since the trustee is refusing to resolve this issue, in order to recover the funds you will have to file a motion with the court for release of those funds. Hope this helps. You should contact the court clerk on how to do so, however keep in mind that the clerk cannot provide any legal advice.

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Answered on 10/14/09, 1:19 pm


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