As we get closer to the disbursement of the Trust Administration Class payments, we wanted to provide you an update on matters that have already occurred during the month of May and will occur over the following few weeks.
1. On May 1, 2014, the Special Master mailed out the first 200 decisions on the appeals of individuals from a determination by the Claims Administrator that they were not eligible to participate in the Cobell settlement. More decisions will be forthcoming shortly.
2. The Special Master has scheduled oral argument at 10:30 am on Tuesday May 13, 2014, in the appeal by one claimant from the Claims Administrator’s determination that it was not eligible to participate in the Cobell settlement.
3. During the week of May 12, 2014, Class Counsel will be filing a motion with the Special Master to permit the Claims Administrator to place funds due to the heirs of all Class Members who are deceased in to an Estate IIM account where an estate is open and pending for that Class Member. At the time the Settlement Agreement received final approval at the end of 2012, there were over 60,000 Class Members who were eligible to participate in the Settlement who had passed away. A great deal of effort has been spent seeking to identify the heirs of those Class Members and to obtain probate documentation allowing the disbursement of those funds. However, there remain a large number of estate funds to be disbursed. Where an heir of a deceased Class Member has not identified himself or herself, or no probate documentation has been provided, deposit of those funds in to a pending Estate IIM account is the most cost-effective way to distribute them. If you believe you are an heir to a deceased class member, please contact the Claims Administrator at 1-800-961-6109 or by email at
4. During the week of May 18, 2014, Class Counsel will be filing a motion with the Court setting forth a plan for the distribution of the Trust Administration Class payments. Once this is filed it will be posted on the website.
5. During the week of May 26, 2014, Class Counsel will file a report summarizing the status of the Settlement Agreement’s implementation. This will be posted on the website after it is filed.
6. On May 30, 2014, at 10:00 am in Courtroom 25A at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Hogan will hold a conference to review the status of the Settlement Agreement’s implementation, the distributions and pending appeals.
7. During the week of June 2, 2014, David Smith, Class Counsel, will be in Oklahoma. If there are groups from Oklahoma interested in meeting with him during that week please contact him by phone at 866-383-6554 or by email at
8. During the week of June 9, 2014, David Smith, Class Counsel, will be in Alaska. If there are groups from Alaska interested in meeting with him during that week please contact him by phone at 866-383-6554 or by email at