Hi, I’m John Medler, personal injury lawyer with The Medler Law Firm – Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys. Today I’d like to talk to you about how long it takes to get a settlement check. Let’s say your lawyer’s just settled your case. How long before you have that money in the bank? Here’s the answer. Most of the time the defendant will draw up what’s called a release. That’s the thing that the plaintiff has to sign ending the case. Normally the defense lawyers will take a little while to prepare that. Usually between a week and 10 days. Once that release has given to your personal injury lawyer, your lawyer will want you to sign that lickety-split. Usually, our clients sign at the same day. We get the signed release then we send it back to the defendant. What happens next is they order the check. And ordering the check usually takes somewhere between 10 and 30 days after they get the release. So the whole process generally takes around 3 to 4 weeks.
Now what happens if the defendant is taking too long? If the defendant seems to be dragging its feet and getting you your settlement check, ask your attorney to file what’s called a ‘motion to enforce.’ A motion to enforce is when the attorney goes to the court and has the court enter an order directing the defendant to pay right away. Most of the time, however, that won’t be needed.
If you have any other questions about how settlements are made and how money is dispersed, check out our website at www.MedlerLawFirm.com or call The Medler Law Firm – Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys. and speak with our Orange County personal injury attorney. Case evaluations are always free of charge.
