There is no statute that sets a maximum number of days, so how long an attorney can hold your settlement check comes down to professional conduct rules that require “prompt” delivery once legitimate obligations are handled. In practice, a straightforward case wraps up about four to six weeks after you sign the settlement. Cases involving Medicare or contested liens routinely stretch to several months. The three variables that drive the timeline are the bank’s hold on the deposited check, the liens that have to be paid from the proceeds, and any dispute about how the money should be split.
The First Two Weeks Belong to the Bank
After both sides sign the settlement, the defendant’s insurer issues a check payable to both you and your attorney. Both signatures are required before it can be deposited. Your attorney cannot sign your name unless you have given specific written authority for that, usually inside the retainer agreement.
Once endorsed, the check goes into a client trust account, often called an IOLTA, which keeps your money separate from the firm’s operating funds. And then it sits there. Federal banking regulations let banks place extended holds on large deposits: for the portion of a check above $6,725, a bank can hold funds for up to eleven business days depending on the check type and the issuing bank.1eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 – Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks Most settlement checks clear that threshold, so the clearing process alone typically eats about two weeks. Your attorney cannot touch a dollar until the bank confirms the funds have arrived.
What Your Attorney Has to Do Before Paying You
Clearing the bank is only step one. Before your attorney writes you a check, several obligations have to be satisfied in order.
Liens come first. A lien is a legal claim a third party has against your settlement, usually tied to medical care or insurance reimbursements from your injury. Hospitals and treating doctors, health insurers seeking subrogation, and government programs like Medicare or Medicaid are the common lienholders.2Illinois State Bar Association. ISBA Professional Conduct Advisory Opinion No. 06-01 Your attorney often negotiates these amounts down, which takes time but usually puts more money in your pocket. A hospital that billed $30,000 might accept $18,000, and the $12,000 difference is yours.
After liens are resolved, your attorney deducts the contingency fee and reimburses case costs advanced during the case. The fee is typically one-third of the recovery if the case settled before a lawsuit was filed, rising to 40% if it went into litigation. Costs cover things like filing fees, medical record charges, deposition expenses, and expert witnesses. All of these numbers should already be spelled out in your retainer agreement.
Why Medicare Cases Take Months
If Medicare paid for any injury-related treatment during your case, the timeline stretches significantly. Medicare has a legal right to be repaid, and your attorney cannot release your share until Medicare’s claim is closed out. This is the single most common reason a settlement takes months instead of weeks.
Once the settlement is finalized, your attorney notifies the Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center of the amount and date. The BCRC reviews the related claims, calculates what Medicare paid, and issues a formal demand letter stating what is owed back.3CMS. Medicare’s Recovery Process The demand letter commonly takes three to six months to arrive. Your attorney cannot guess the number and release the rest, because underpaying Medicare exposes both of you to personal liability.
There is a faster path. The Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Portal lets attorneys request a “final conditional payment” figure before the settlement is finalized, locking in a number up to 120 days before the anticipated settlement date. If Medicare is in your case, ask your attorney early on whether they have started the conditional payment process. It can save weeks or months.
When Part of the Money Is Disputed
Sometimes the delay is not about liens or bank holds but about a real disagreement over who gets what. You might dispute the fee calculation, or a lienholder might claim more than you think is owed. When that happens, your attorney has to hold the disputed portion in the trust account until the disagreement is resolved by negotiation or a court order.4American Bar Association. Rule 1.15 Safekeeping Property
What matters here: a dispute over part of the money does not justify holding all of it. Whatever portion is not in dispute has to be released promptly. On a $100,000 settlement with a $15,000 lien fight, the undisputed $85,000 (minus fees and costs) should go to you while the $15,000 stays in trust. An attorney who refuses to release anything until every last item is settled is not following the rule.
If the dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation, your attorney may file an interpleader action, asking the court to decide how to divide the contested funds. That is a legitimate step, though it adds time.
The Ethical Clock: What “Prompt” Actually Means
Attorneys handling settlement funds work under ABA Model Rule 1.15, which most states have adopted. It imposes three duties on your lawyer:
- Prompt notification when the settlement check arrives. You should not have to chase them to learn it came in.
- A full written accounting on request, showing the gross settlement, every fee and cost deduction, every lien payment, and your final net amount.
- Prompt delivery of your share once liens are resolved and fees are calculated. The rule says “promptly” rather than naming a number of days, but the intent is clear: once the legitimate work is done, the money goes to you.
These are not suggestions. Violating Rule 1.15 can result in professional discipline, up to suspension or disbarment.4American Bar Association. Rule 1.15 Safekeeping Property Rule 1.4 separately requires your attorney to keep you reasonably informed about the status of your matter and respond promptly to your requests for information.5American Bar Association. Rule 1.4 Communications An attorney who goes silent for weeks after the check arrives is violating both rules at once.
What to Do If the Wait Becomes Unreasonable
A few weeks after the check clears is normal. Three months of silence is not. Escalate in stages.
Start with a written request. Email or mail a letter asking for a specific status update: which liens are still outstanding, what amounts are being negotiated, and when disbursement is expected. Put it in writing so there is a record. Most delays have an explanation, and a direct question usually surfaces it.
If the response is vague or nonexistent, formally request your settlement accounting. Under Rule 1.15, you are entitled to a written breakdown of every dollar in and every dollar out or held. The accounting alone often reveals the bottleneck, whether it is a Medicare demand letter that has not arrived or a lienholder who will not return calls.
If your attorney remains unresponsive or you suspect the funds have been mishandled, file a grievance with the attorney disciplinary authority in the state where your lawyer is licensed. Every state has one, and filing does not require another lawyer. Complaints about unreturned settlement funds are among the most common grievances these offices handle.
In the worst case, where an attorney has stolen or converted settlement funds, every state maintains a client protection fund (sometimes called a client security fund) that reimburses clients for losses caused by attorney dishonesty. Filing a claim with that fund is separate from a disciplinary complaint, and you can pursue both at the same time. Reimbursement caps vary by state, but these programs exist for exactly this kind of loss.