Suffering a disabling injury—whether temporary or permanent—can have a major impact on your life. There may be financial challenges, difficulties at work, or missed opportunities in life because of the damaging actions of other legal parties in your injury trial or arbitration. As the settlement offers and negotiations mature, consider a few preparation decisions that can help you transition into a healthier, protected life after injury.
Housing Arrangements And Allowance
Depending on the severity of your injury, you may need to be close to medical care, a new career center, or family and friends that can take care of you. If these hardships were caused by your legal opponent, you'll need to push for increased responsibility for housing arrangements.
Such responsibility can range from purchasing a new home to assisting with a move. The amount that you can demand greatly depends on your injuries, but make sure to have a personal injury attorney, such as Vaughan & Vaughan, on your side for the most effective negotiations.
If you're unable to get a new home for your trouble, at least make sure that the bills for your current living arrangements are taken care of. Push for at least the expected duration of your injuries or, in the case of a crippling disability, until you can be covered by programs such as social security disability.
These bills may be mortgage payments, rent, relevant credit card bills before the injury, and basic needs such as groceries and childcare. Your legal opponent may elect to cover a specific dollar amount for housing allowance and living stipends, so at least have a running average of your monthly costs ready for negotiation.
Affording A New Life Through A New Career
Your injuries may not be severe enough for disability or a sizable settlement, but your job may still be too difficult to deal with as the pain or mental trauma continues. Make sure to have a plan B for life, and make sure that your legal opponent can fund it.
Request that your legal adversary pays for job training or an education plan in order to secure your future. Although a degree or job training may not be guarantees of success, they can open many doors to profitable and life-enhancing opportunities.
Your legal opponent doesn't have to pay the full amount of your education or training in order to get you into a program. By hiring a grant writer or scholarship professional, different funding opportunities can be located to pay for everything from tuition and fees to campus housing. Your personal background, organization participation, and even the injury itself can be used as viable traits for scholarship awards.
With scholarship planning in place, your legal opponent only needs to pay the grant writer's fees, which may be far less than the job training or scholarship amount. If the amount is low enough, make sure to secure multiple degrees, certifications, or job training opportunities in case your first choice isn't viable as the economy changes. As with other injury situations, try to request housing allowance as you attend school.
For assistance with unique injury settlement negotiations, contact a personal injury lawyer.
