The attorneys at Skeeters, Bennett, Wilson & Humphrey have, for years, helped clients recover money for damages suffered after personal injury or car wrecks. In those cases, we often have to estimate the cost of future medical and support expenses for our clients, many of whom are left with life altering disabilities or chronic injuries. For clients who find themselves in this position, we work with their healthcare professionals and vocational experts to establish a life care plan.  

These plans are not meant for individuals with minor injuries who recover in weeks or months after an accident. These plans are generally only used when the client suffers life altering, permanent injury.

The preparation of a life care plan normally starts with a comprehensive review of current and past medical records to determine the exact injuries suffered by the client.  Interviews with the client and their healthcare professionals are then conducted to determine what kind of care the client will require in the future. Often, future care includes occupational, speech, and physical therapies as well as counseling to deal with the trauma from the accident. Such care can also include future medical testing, surgery, and sometimes even prosthetic care. A vocational expert will then develop a cost-prediction for this future care. The expert will also assess the costs necessary for various medical equipment such as wheelchairs or even home modifications necessary to accommodate the client’s injuries.

The future medical treatment and lifestyle modifications are then detailed in the life care plan. The costs for the future treatment and lifestyle modifications are itemized in the plan along with the loss of future earnings if the client can no longer work. All of this is done to develop the plan but, importantly, to reach a total number that reflects the client’s likely cost of future care and lost earnings.

The life care plan allows the client and their family to have a realistic overview of the client’s future. It gives the client’s attorney the information necessary to collect the costs of future care and lost wages from the party that caused the client’s injury.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured by the negligence of another, the attorneys at Skeeters, Bennett, Wilson & Humphrey can help you develop a life care plan that brings clarity to an uncertain future. It will also arm us with the information necessary to recover the full value of the damages you have suffered so that you can receive the future care you deserve.