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Settlement take-home calculator

Enter the numbers from your fee agreement and settlement offer to see, line by line, what might be left for you. It is an estimate, not advice. This is general information, not legal advice.

Estimate what you take home

Start with the worked example, or replace it with your own numbers. Use the figures in your fee agreement and any settlement statement your lawyer has given you.

Your numbers stay in this browser tab. Nothing is sent or saved.

The total the other side agreed to pay.

From your fee agreement. You can type 33⅓ or 33 1/3.

When are costs taken out?

Your fee agreement should say. If you don’t know, try both.

Money spent on the case, such as filing fees, records and expert reports. Enter 0 if none.

Unpaid bills, and money a health insurer or other payer wants back. Enter 0 if none.

Only if your own car insurer wants back what it paid. Enter 0 if not.

Worked example, with made-up numbers

Settlement
$30,000
Lawyer’s fee: 33⅓% of $30,000
− $10,000
Case costs
− $3,000
Medical bills and liens
− $5,000
PIP or med-pay paid back
− $0
You take home (estimate)
$12,000

If costs came out before the fee instead, the fee would be $9,000 and you would take home $13,000.

This is an estimate from the numbers above, not advice. Your lawyer’s written settlement statement shows the real amounts.

Before you rely on a number

Compare it with this estimate, and ask about any line you don’t understand.

  1. What percentage is the fee, and is it figured before or after costs?
  2. Which costs have been spent so far, and can I see a list?
  3. Who has asked to be paid back from the settlement, and how much?
  4. Can I see a draft settlement statement before I agree?

For how fee agreements work, see how contingency fees work.

When you’re ready

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Sources

Where the legal facts on this page come from

  1. ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 (fees)American Bar Association, Model Rules of Professional Conduct (text not reachable from this session)Read the source
  2. 42 C.F.R. § 411.24 (recovery of conditional payments)“(g) Recovery from parties that receive primary payments. CMS has a right of action to recover its payments from any entity, including a beneficiary, provider, supplier, physician, attorney, State agency or private insurer that has received a primary payment. (h) Reimbursement to Medicare. If the beneficiary or other party receives a primary payment, the beneficiary or other party must reimburse Medicare within 60 days.”Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), current as of 1 Oct 2026 · read 7 Nov 2026Read the source

This is general information, not legal advice.