TRUST FUND GUIDE
A plain-English guide to the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust.
If you worked around Johns-Manville insulation, Transite cement products, or other Manville building materials and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, you may have a claim against the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Johns-Manville was the largest asbestos company in the country, and its trust was the first asbestos bankruptcy trust ever created. This page explains what the trust is, what it pays, and how to file. You can also read about the company’s asbestos history for more background.
We are Throneberry Law Group, a nationwide mesothelioma and asbestos firm. We help families file trust claims, and we can review your work history at no cost. This guide reflects the trust’s own filings. Nothing here is a promise about your case, and every figure below can change when the trust updates its numbers.
CURRENT TRUST STATUS
The trust pays a pro rata share of 5.1 percent of a claim’s scheduled value. The trustees set that share in November 2016, and the trust reviews it at least every three years. The low percentage reflects the huge number of claims filed against Manville over the decades, not the strength of any one claim.
BACKGROUND
The Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust pays people who were harmed by asbestos in products mined or manufactured by Johns-Manville and its affiliated companies. Johns-Manville made and sold more asbestos products, to more industries, than any other American company.
Johns-Manville filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 1982. The court approved its Plan of Reorganization, and after appeals the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit confirmed the plan on October 28, 1988. The trust became operational on November 28, 1988, making it the first and largest asbestos bankruptcy trust. Claims are filed with the trust, not against the old company.
PRODUCTS & COMPANIES COVERED
The trust covers asbestos personal injury claims tied to Johns-Manville and its affiliates. Manville’s product lines touched nearly every trade, from building sites to shipyards.
Because Manville sold so many products over so many years, a wide range of work histories can support a claim. The exact product names and date windows for your exposure are worth confirming against the trust’s records before filing.
INDUSTRIES, TRADES & OCCUPATIONS
Manville products were everywhere asbestos was used. Insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, construction workers, and laborers handled the material directly, and the dust reached anyone working nearby. Common sites include construction projects, power plants, refineries, steel mills, factories, and shipyards. You can read more about asbestos exposure in the construction trades if that describes your work.
Manville insulation and cement products were also used heavily by the Navy and in shipyards. Veterans who served in engine rooms and boiler rooms, and the civilians who built and repaired those ships, were exposed to Manville materials on a daily basis. Our page on Navy asbestos exposure explains how that service can support a claim.
HOW IT WORKS
The trust follows a written rulebook called the Trust Distribution Process, or TDP. Claims filed since October 10, 2003 are processed under the 2002 Manville TDP. Section D of the TDP sets a scheduled value for each disease level, and the trust pays a pro rata share of that value. Today that share is 5.1 percent. Level I cash-discount claims are paid on a separate basis and are not reduced by the pro rata share.
Why the percentage is low. In 1990 the courts found the Manville Trust did not have enough money to pay every claim in full, so it pays each claimant as equal a share as possible. The pro rata share has moved over time: 10 percent in 1995, 5 percent in 2001, 7.5 percent in 2008, 6.25 percent in 2014, and 5.1 percent since November 2016. A Manville claim is usually one piece of a larger recovery across several trusts.
FILING OPTIONS
The trust offers a scheduled-value track and an individual-evaluation track. Your attorney helps you choose the one that fits your evidence.
Scheduled Value Settlement
If your medical and exposure evidence meets the criteria for a scheduled disease under Section D, the trust makes a scheduled-value offer. Certain disease levels require proof of Significant Occupational Exposure, or SOE, which your work history can establish.
Individual Evaluation
Claims that do not fit a scheduled category, and lung cancer and secondary-exposure claims, go through individual evaluation. The trust will value a claim above its scheduled amount only where a higher value is clearly justified. An ADR process is available if you disagree with the trust’s decision.
THE NUMBERS
Section D of the 2002 Manville TDP sets scheduled values for a series of asbestos disease levels, from mesothelioma at the top down to nonmalignant pleural disease and a Level I cash-discount payment. Mesothelioma is the highest scheduled disease. Lung cancer, secondary-exposure, and non-standard claims are routed to individual evaluation.
The current pro rata share of 5.1 percent applies to the scheduled value for your disease level. At the $350,000 mesothelioma scheduled value, the 5.1 percent pro rata share works out to about $17,850 from this trust. Rates and scheduled values can change over time, so confirm the current figures before you rely on them.
| Disease Level | Scheduled Value (2002 TDP, Section D) |
|---|---|
| Mesothelioma (Level VIII) | $350,000 |
| Lung Cancer 2 (Level VII) | $95,000 |
| Lung Cancer 1 (Level VI) | Individual Review |
| Other Cancer (Level V) | $45,000 |
| Severe Asbestosis (Level IV) | $95,000 |
| Asbestosis / Pleural Disease (Level III) | $25,000 |
| Asbestosis / Pleural Disease (Level II) | $12,000 |
| Other Asbestos Disease (Level I) | $600 |
Scheduled values from Section D of the 2002 Manville TDP. Current pro rata share 5.1% (set November 2016). Confirmed July 2, 2026.
To see how trust payments fit with lawsuits and other recoveries, read about mesothelioma compensation and typical mesothelioma settlements.
GETTING STARTED
A strong trust claim takes preparation. Here is the path most clients follow with us.
1. Gather medical records. You need clear proof of diagnosis, usually a pathology report and a doctor’s statement tying your disease to asbestos.
2. Document your work history. Build a record of every job site, employer, and time period, which also helps establish Significant Occupational Exposure where the TDP requires it.
3. Match to covered products. Tie your exposure back to Johns-Manville insulation, Transite, cements, or other Manville materials.
4. Choose your review track. We help decide between a scheduled-value settlement and individual evaluation based on your evidence and your other trust claims.
5. File and track. Submit the claim and supporting documents, then follow it through review, the pro rata share, and payment.
WHY THRONEBERRY LAW
Trust claims can look simple on paper, but small choices change the outcome by thousands of dollars. Most clients qualify with more than one trust, and the order and framing of those claims matter. Attorney Michael Throneberry has a personal reason for this work. His father-in-law died of mesothelioma, so this is not just a case type to him.
22+ Years of Asbestos Work
Attorney Michael Throneberry has pursued asbestos cases for more than two decades, with a focus on getting each client every trust and claim they qualify for.
No Fee Unless We Win
We work on contingency. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you, and your first case review is always free. The Manville TDP also caps attorney fees at 25 percent of a trust payment.
Personal Attention
Our founding attorney stays involved in every case, and we travel to you, including to your home or hospital. We also serve Spanish-speaking clients.
GET HELP
If you worked around Johns-Manville products and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos illness, a Manville claim may be one part of what you are owed. We can review your work history, tell you which trusts may pay, and handle the filings so you can focus on your health and your family.
If someone in your family has mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, we can review your work history at no cost and tell you which trusts may pay. There is no fee unless we win. To get started, reach our team through our contact form.
SOURCES
Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, official site (mantrust.claimsres.com), About and History pages (trust operational November 28, 1988).
Claims Resolution Management Corporation (CRMC), Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust FAQs (pro rata share 5.1 percent since November 2016; 2002 Manville TDP; Section D scheduled diseases; 25 percent attorney-fee cap).
2002 Manville Trust Distribution Process, Section D (claims filed since October 10, 2003 processed under it). Section D scheduled values as reproduced in the published opinion In re Joint E. & S. Dists. Asbestos Litig., 237 F. Supp. 2d 297, 320-24 (E. & S.D.N.Y. 2002). Confirmed July 2, 2026.
Product and exposure detail from the trust’s product history and the firm’s asbestos-company records.
DISCLAIMER
This page is general information, not legal advice. Trust payment percentages, scheduled values, and procedures can change, and the trust’s own filings control. Contacting us through a form or call does not create an attorney-client relationship.
© 2026 Throneberry Law Group. All rights reserved.
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