Asbestos Trust Fund Claims Scranton

Michael Schafle, Esq. provides Asbestos Trust Fund Claims in Scranton, PA.

A trust fund claim is separate from suing a company that is still in business.

When a manufacturer like an asbestos-insulation or boiler maker went bankrupt, a federal court required it to fund a trust before closing the doors, so injured workers could still be paid. The U.S. Government Accountability Office counted 60 such trusts in its review of asbestos bankruptcy trusts, together holding tens of billions of dollars.

A single Scranton pipefitter who worked in multiple mills and the rail yards was usually exposed to dozens of different products, so one worker often qualifies for several trusts at once, each paying its own share.

Step 1 is building the work history: the years, the employer, and the buildings. A boilermaker in the old Lackawanna rail shops, a laborer at the Scranton Iron Furnaces era mills, a pipe-coverer on jobs across South Side and West Side, each site points to specific brands of insulation, gaskets, and cement. Step 2 matches those brands to the trusts that cover them.

Step 3 gathers the proof each trust demands: the pathology report confirming mesothelioma, your sworn work history, and any co-worker statements. Step 4 files with every qualifying trust. Step 5 collects the payments as each trust approves, which arrive on their own schedules rather than all at once.

Trust claims suit a family that needs money sooner, because the funds are already reserved and the process is paperwork, not a jury.

A lawsuit against a solvent company can pay more but can take years and a trial. Many Lackawanna County families do both, file the trust claims now for faster payment, and pursue any live-defendant case alongside it. The trade-off is simple: the trusts pay faster and more certainly but cap each claim; a lawsuit carries risk and delay but no cap.

Exposure that happened decades ago still counts, which matters here because most Scranton diagnoses appear 30 to 50 years after the work. The latency of mesothelioma is documented by the federal workplace-health agency, and asbestos remains a recognized hazard under federal jobsite rules and the environmental asbestos program.

Each trust sets its own medical criteria and its own payment schedule, published in a Trust Distribution Procedures document. A claim that qualifies under the expedited review of one trust is paid a fixed scheduled amount; a claim routed through individual review can be valued higher but takes longer.

Veterans exposed aboard ships or on base may also have a parallel path through the VA asbestos benefits program, separate from the trusts. We handle the filing from your home, kitchen table in Pine Brook, Petersburg, or East Mountain, or bedside during treatment at a local hospital, so no one too ill or too tired has to travel to an office. To reach us, call (570) 613-3392.