§ 90.052.Requirement to Make Trust Claims

An affirmative obligation to pursue the parallel compensation system before trying the tort case.

A claimant who has filed an action shall make a trust claim against each asbestos or silica trust the claimant believes may owe compensation for the injury.

The deadline is the 150th day before trial is set to commence, or a date set by court order for trials commencing on or before January 31, 2016.

The obligation is unusual. A claimant is ordinarily free to choose which defendants to pursue and which claims to bring. Here the statute requires pursuing a separate compensation source, and a court may not remand or try the case until it is done.

The reason is allocation. Trust recoveries and tort recoveries compensate the same disease, and a defendant apportioning responsibility under the proportionate responsibility chapter needs to know what the claimant has recovered, and from which bankrupt manufacturers.

Subsections (c) and (d) supply relief where the claim is not worth making. A claimant may move for relief if the fees and expenses, including attorney's fees, exceed the reasonably anticipated recovery, and the court shall determine the question.

Trusts pay a percentage of scheduled values that can be low, and requiring a claimant to spend more than a claim will return would be pointless. Where relief is granted, the response provision requires a verified statement of the exposed person's exposure history covered by that trust instead — so the exposure information reaches the defendants either way.