How long does it take to get a settlement check in a South Carolina wrongful death case?

It depends, and I’ll cover it below. The first thing you need to know is you’re not being greedy. Families of fatal accident victims often need a settlement to keep from going under after losing a breadwinner. Even if that’s not the case, justice matters. Wrongful death settlements express responsibility for causing an unjust loss.

Insurance companies pay these settlements. They are heartless. The insurance company adjuster has one goal—to lowball you. You’re easy pickings because you’re exhausted from deep emotional wounds and don’t know how the law works for you.

Put a professional to work for you and your family. We won’t pressure you to hire us; we just want to answer your questions. Call our Spartanburg wrongful death attorneys toll-free at (864) 582-0416 or fill out a Get Help Now form to get your questions answered in a FREE*, NO PRESSURE strategy session.

The Process for a South Carolina Wrongful Death Settlement Check

1. We reach a settlement agreement with the insurance adjuster or opposing counsel.
2. We get the settlement documents and check. The documents include pleadings to present the case for court approval, which is mandatory in South Carolina. We deposit the check into our trust account, which is designed to safeguard your money until a judge authorizes us to release it to you.
3. For a judge to authorize the release of your settlement check, a hearing is required. We schedule the hearing ASAP.
4. We review the documents to assure they are accurate and protect your family’s rights—if not, we fix them.
5. If a child under 18 gets a settlement, we make sure we’ve got a legally-required special account set up to help parents protect the child’s settlement money.
6. We file a pleading called a “Petition for Approval of Wrongful Death Settlement.” That way, the judge knows what the hearing’s about.
7. We prepare you for the hearing. Our client, the estate’s personal representative (PR), must testify that they understand the settlement and agrees with it.
8. At the hearing before the judge, we also present facts to justify the settlement amount, including the verification of all available insurance to pay the settlement. That’s yet another of many reasons to hire an experienced South Carolina wrongful death attorney—to make sure you find every penny that could be put towards your family’s settlement.
9. The judge approves the settlement in a court order. After the order’s filed, we can issue a check to you and your family, assuming it’s been deposited in our trust account long enough to satisfy ethical regulations. Generally, it’s 10 days.
10. We issue checks as directed by the court order. As a service to the PR, we deliver each wrongful death beneficiary’s check to them personally.

You Can’t Afford to Mess This Up, Get Legal Help

If you’re the PR of a family of someone who’s been killed in a South Carolina accident, the weight of that family is on your shoulders. Don’t risk selling them out with a cheap settlement because you don’t know what a good wrongful death settlement amount is.

Get peace of mind for the entire family. Call the Spartanburg wrongful death attorneys at (864) 582-0416 to get your questions answered.

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