Life care plan
A costed schedule of the care a seriously injured person will need for the rest of their life.
In a catastrophic case it is often the largest single component of the claim, and the most closely contested. This is general information, not legal advice.
What it means
A life care planner — commonly a specialist nurse or rehabilitation professional — works from the medical evidence to set out what will be needed and when: surgeries, therapy, equipment, medication, attendant care, home modification, transport.
Each item is then costed and projected across a life expectancy. Both sides usually instruct their own planner, and the difference between the two plans is frequently the difference between the parties' valuations.
It only becomes possible once the medical picture is stable enough to predict, which is another reason the timing of settlement matters.
Where this is dealt with properly
This entry is the short answer. These pages own the subject.
Common questions
- Who pays for a life care plan?
- It is a case cost, usually advanced by the firm and repaid out of the recovery. It is only commissioned where the injury is serious enough to warrant it.
Start a case review call
On a case review call, I go through the facts with you: what happened, when, whether you were hurt, whether anyone represents you, and how to reach you. It is not legal advice, and I will not put a value on your claim.
Sources: none. Life care plan is practice vocabulary rather than a legal term of art — no California statute, rule or case defines it, so this page cites none. Attaching an authority that nearly fits would be worse than saying that plainly.