Station fire probate proceedings on fast track, lawyer says
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, February 12, 2010
PROVIDENCE — A lawyer who represents victims of the Station nightclub fire told a federal judge Thursday that guardianship and probate proceedings for victims are proceeding faster than expected — a development that could lead to speedier payment of settlement money to those who lost loved ones or suffered injuries in the 2003 blaze.
None of the 65 defendants who have offered to pay a total of $176 million to the fire victims have yet deposited any of the settlement money in a trust account that’s been established at Citizens Bank. The probate proceedings need to be wrapped up before that is done. In addition, the victims all have to sign release forms to get their money.
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Mark Mandell told Senior U.S. Judge Ronald R. Lagueux that there are still some insurance lien questions to be resolved as well. Many private insurers have agreed to entirely waive liens on the victims’ settlement proceeds, but Medicare and Medicaid are looking for some of the settlement money. Mandell previously told the court that Rhode Island and Massachusetts Medicaid have agreed to waive 40 percent of what they’ve paid out for the fire victims who are in their programs. He said Thursday that it looks like Medicare will also waive part of the current liens, though it’s unclear what position it will take on future bills incurred. Lawyers for the victims have retained other law firms to advise them on this issue with Medicare, Mandell told Lagueux.
But the good news for the fire victims is that probate and guardianship proceedings are proceeding on a fast track. Mandell told the court there are 57 minors who will receive more than $10,000 in settlement money — 41 who lost a parent in the fire and 16 who have a parent who was burned. He said guardianship proceedings for these minors have been under way in recent weeks in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico and Maine. In Rhode Island alone, there are nine probate courts involved.
There are also nine states where estates of dead fire victims are being probated: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Illinois, New Mexico and Washington.
“There have been hundreds of complex legal issues” involved with effectuating the settlements, Mandell told Lagueux, but so far 217 of the 308 victims have signed the necessary release forms — a little more than 70 percent. He said he expects the rest to sign shortly.