Asbestos Trust Fund Database

What Are Asbestos Trust Funds?

Asbestos trust funds are financial reserves established by companies that manufactured, distributed, or used asbestos-containing products and subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization due to the volume of asbestos-related lawsuits filed against them. Under Section 524(g) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, these companies were permitted to reorganize and continue operating on the condition that they create and fund a trust to compensate current and future asbestos disease victims.

The concept originated with the Johns-Manville Corporation, once the world's largest asbestos manufacturer, which filed for bankruptcy in 1982. The resulting Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, established in 1988, became the model for all subsequent asbestos trusts. Since then, more than 60 companies have established similar trusts, collectively holding over $30 billion in assets designated for asbestos disease claimants.

Why Do Asbestos Trust Funds Exist?

By the early 2000s, asbestos litigation had become the longest-running mass tort in U.S. history. The RAND Corporation estimated that over 730,000 people had filed asbestos-related claims. Companies faced tens of thousands of individual lawsuits, and the traditional litigation system was unable to process claims efficiently. Congress and the courts recognized that a trust fund mechanism would provide several critical benefits:

• Guaranteed compensation — trust funds ensure that money is reserved specifically for asbestos victims, even if the responsible company no longer exists as an independent entity
• Faster resolution — trust fund claims can be processed in months rather than the years required for traditional litigation
• Fair distribution — trust distribution procedures (TDPs) establish standardized payment criteria based on disease severity, ensuring that the most seriously ill claimants receive the highest compensation
• Preservation of assets — by channeling claims through a trust, assets are protected from being exhausted by early filers, leaving nothing for future claimants
• Company survival — reorganized companies can continue operating, maintaining jobs and generating revenue that may further fund the trust

How Do Asbestos Trust Funds Work?

Each trust operates independently according to its own Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP), which detail the criteria for filing a claim, the documentation required, the disease categories recognized, and the scheduled payment values for each disease level. Mesothelioma consistently receives the highest scheduled value across all trusts due to its severity and direct causal link to asbestos exposure.

Trusts pay claims at a payment percentage of the scheduled value. This percentage is adjusted periodically to ensure the trust can continue paying claims for all present and future victims. A trust with a 25% payment percentage and a $200,000 scheduled value for mesothelioma, for example, would pay $50,000 per approved mesothelioma claim through expedited review. Claimants who pursue individual review may receive higher or lower amounts based on the strength of their evidence.

Because most asbestos workers were exposed to products from many different manufacturers over their careers, a single mesothelioma victim may be eligible to file claims with 10, 15, or even 20 or more trusts. An experienced mesothelioma attorney identifies every applicable trust based on the claimant's detailed work and exposure history.

How to File a Trust Fund Claim

Filing an asbestos trust fund claim is a multi-step process that requires detailed documentation of your medical diagnosis, asbestos exposure history, and employment records. While the process can be navigated without an attorney, experienced legal representation significantly increases the number of trusts identified and the total compensation recovered.

Step 1: Gather Your Medical Evidence

Every trust fund requires a confirmed medical diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease. For mesothelioma claims, this typically includes:

• Pathology report — tissue biopsy confirming mesothelioma diagnosis, including cell type (epithelioid, sarcomatoid, or biphasic)
• Diagnostic imaging — CT scans, PET scans, or X-rays showing the extent of disease
• Physician statement — a letter from the treating oncologist or pulmonologist confirming the diagnosis and its connection to asbestos exposure
• Medical records — complete treatment records, hospital admissions, and surgical reports

Step 2: Document Your Asbestos Exposure History

Trust funds compensate claimants based on exposure to the specific asbestos-containing products manufactured by the company that established the trust. Building a complete exposure history requires:

• Employment records — job sites, dates of employment, job titles, and names of employers at each location
• Product identification — identifying which asbestos-containing products were present at each job site and which manufacturers made them
• Witness statements — declarations from coworkers who can confirm the presence of specific asbestos products at shared job sites
• Union records — union membership documents, apprenticeship records, and dispatch records showing work assignments

Step 3: Identify All Applicable Trust Funds

This is where experienced legal representation provides the greatest value. A mesothelioma attorney cross-references your complete work history against databases of asbestos-containing products used at thousands of job sites across the country. Most claimants qualify for claims with multiple trusts — it is not uncommon for a single mesothelioma patient to file with 10, 15, or more trusts based on decades of occupational exposure to products from different manufacturers.

Step 4: File Claims with Each Trust

Your attorney prepares and files a separate claim with each applicable trust. Each claim must include the required documentation specified in that trust's TDP, including proof of diagnosis, exposure evidence linking you to the trust's specific products, and supporting declarations. Claims are filed electronically through each trust's claims processing system.

Step 5: Claim Review and Payment

Once submitted, each trust reviews the claim against its criteria. Most trusts offer two review tracks:

• Expedited review — faster processing using predetermined scheduled values based on disease category. Most claims are resolved within 3 to 6 months.
• Individual review — a more detailed evaluation where the claimant presents additional evidence for a potentially higher payment. This process takes 6 to 12 months or longer.

Approved claims are paid at the trust's current payment percentage of the scheduled value. Payments are typically issued within 30 to 60 days of final approval.

Trust Fund Payment Process

Understanding how trust fund payments are calculated and processed helps claimants set realistic expectations and make informed decisions about which review track to pursue.

Expedited Review vs. Individual Review

Nearly all asbestos trust funds offer two paths for claim evaluation:

How Payment Percentages Work

Each trust pays approved claims at a payment percentage of the scheduled value rather than the full amount. This mechanism ensures the trust can continue paying claims for all current and future victims over the life of the trust. Payment percentages are set by the trust's advisory committees and are periodically adjusted based on the trust's remaining assets, projected future claims, and investment performance.

For example, if a trust has a scheduled value of $200,000 for mesothelioma and a current payment percentage of 25%, an approved expedited-review claim would receive $50,000 from that trust. If the same claimant qualifies for claims with 10 trusts at varying payment percentages, the combined recovery can be substantial.

Typical Timeline for Trust Fund Claims

• Claim preparation and filing: 2 to 4 weeks (with attorney assistance)
• Trust acknowledgment and review: 30 to 90 days
• Expedited review decision: 3 to 6 months from filing
• Individual review decision: 6 to 12+ months from filing
• Payment after approval: 30 to 60 days

Required Documentation for All Claims

While each trust has specific requirements detailed in its TDP, the following documentation is universally required:

• Medical documentation — confirmed diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease (pathology report, physician statement)
• Exposure evidence — proof of exposure to the specific asbestos-containing products made by the trust's establishing company
• Employment history — records of employment at job sites where exposure occurred
• Supporting declarations — sworn statements from the claimant, coworkers, or family members corroborating the exposure history
• Prior litigation history — disclosure of any prior asbestos-related legal claims or settlements

How Our Attorneys Maximize Your Trust Fund Recovery

Filing asbestos trust fund claims requires specialized knowledge of asbestos products, job site histories, trust filing requirements, and claims procedures. The attorneys at Danziger & De Llano, LLP have spent over 35 years representing mesothelioma patients and their families, and our team understands how to identify every available trust fund and maximize the total recovery for each client.

What We Do for You

• Comprehensive exposure analysis — we conduct detailed interviews and research to build a complete picture of every job site, product, and manufacturer involved in your asbestos exposure history
• Multi-trust identification — using proprietary databases and decades of case experience, we identify every trust fund you qualify for, including trusts you may not know exist
• Simultaneous filing — we file claims with all applicable trusts concurrently, rather than sequentially, to accelerate your total timeline to recovery
• Documentation preparation — our team handles all medical records gathering, exposure evidence compilation, and witness statement preparation
• Review track strategy — we advise whether expedited or individual review is better for each trust based on the strength of your evidence and the specific trust's payment structure
• Claim follow-up and appeals — we monitor every claim through processing and handle any deficiency notices, requests for additional information, or appeals
• Additional compensation sources — trust fund claims are just one component of a comprehensive compensation strategy that may also include personal injury lawsuits, VA benefits, and workers' compensation

No Upfront Cost — Ever

We handle all asbestos trust fund claims on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing upfront and owe no legal fees unless we recover compensation for you. This means there is zero financial risk to you or your family for pursuing the compensation you are entitled to.