Why Your USVSST Payment Is
So Much Smaller Than Your Judgment

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If you hold a 9/11 judgment against Iran, you have watched the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST Fund) pay or allocate more than $10 billion across six rounds. And you have probably looked at your own check and wondered why it is so small compared to what a court awarded your family. You are not imagining it, and it is not a mistake. It is written into the law. This page explains exactly how, in plain English, with the source for every number so you can check it yourself.

Our family receives these payments too, so I read every notice the Fund puts out. What follows is educational, not legal or tax advice. Your specific situation belongs with your attorney and your CPA.

Why: the law splits the fund in half, and you are in the bigger half

Since 2019, the statute has required the Fund to do one thing before it pays anyone: divide all available funds in half. One half goes to 9/11-related victims, the other half to non-9/11 victims of state-sponsored terrorism (the Iran hostages, the 1983 Beirut and 1996 Khobar Towers bombing victims, and others). Only then does it pay each side pro-rata. That 50/50 rule was added by the 2019 Clarification Act; before 2019, everyone was paid from one pool together.

Here is why the split hits 9/11 families hardest. In the sixth round the Fund allocated $2.825 billion, and cut it exactly in half: $1.4125 billion to 9/11 claimants and $1.4125 billion to everyone else. But the two groups are not the same size. There are 12,972 eligible 9/11 claimants and 8,756 non-9/11 claimants. The larger group is handed the same dollars as the smaller one, so each 9/11 dollar of damage recovers less. That is the 1.64 versus 5.24.

The second haircut: the caps cut the largest judgments the most

Before the pro-rata math even runs, the law caps the damages it will count. No individual claim counts for more than $20 million, no matter how large the judgment. An immediate-family group (a 9/11 victim, spouse, and dependents) is capped at $35 million together. And 9/11 family members who are not the victim, spouse, or dependent (siblings, non-dependent parents) sit under a lower $20 million family cap. So the families with the gravest losses and the largest awards are cut the hardest, and there is even an uneven line drawn between close and extended 9/11 family.

The third reason: the Fund pays nothing on your interest, or your punitive damages

The Fund pays only your compensatory damages, pro-rata. By law, “compensatory damages” does not include the interest your judgment carries or any punitive damages. Many 9/11 judgments carry years of prejudgment interest, and the Fund's payment percentage never touches it; what your own judgment carries is written in the judgment itself, a question for your attorney. You keep your creditor rights to that interest and to any punitive damages in the unpaid part of your judgment; the Fund simply does not pay them.

What the split does and does not mean

• It does not mean the Fund is withholding your money or playing favorites. The 50/50 split and the caps are in the statute; the Special Master is following the law, not choosing who wins.
• It does not mean your judgment is gone. Even after the Fund pays, you keep your rights as a judgment creditor to the unpaid balance of your judgment, including the interest and punitive damages described above.
• It does not mean the payments are over. More than $10 billion has been paid or allocated so far, and the Fund is authorized to keep making annual distributions from available money until it terminates on January 2, 2039.
• It does not mean every family gets the same percentage. If you received 30 percent or more of your damages from other sources such as a legal settlement, the offset rules can affect your USVSST payments until others catch up. That is a fact-specific calculation, and it is worth understanding before you count on a number.

What you can do

You cannot change the 50/50 split (only Congress can). But you can plan around what the law actually does:

• Treat each round as unpredictable, because it is. The percentage swings round to round with the Fund's balance. Plan on the payment you have received, not the payment you are owed on paper.
• Know what your lawyer can charge. For 9/11 claimants, the law caps attorney fees on any USVSST payment at 15 percent, and an attorney who charges more can be fined or imprisoned. If you are unsure what you are paying, that is a number worth confirming.
• Coordinate the whole picture before you make a large move: the USVSST payment, any VCF award, SSDI, Medicare or Medicaid, and the tax character of your award. These interact, and the tax treatment of a USVSST payment is fact-specific and must be confirmed with a CPA.
• Watch Congress. If the 50/50 split is amended, the math above changes. It is one of the few things that could change this math for future rounds.

Sources

• Payment percentages (1.64% for 9/11, 5.24% for non-9/11, sixth round): USVSST Fund, Payment Calculation Explanation for 9/11-Related Claims, Sixth Distribution, December 2025, Section IV, at usvsst.com.
• The 50/50 split and pro-rata rule: 34 U.S.C. § 20144(d)(3)(A)(i), as amended by the USVSST Fund Clarification Act (Public Law 116-69, 2019).
• Round 6 total ($2.825B), the $1.4125B halves, and claimant counts (12,972 9/11 / 8,756 non-9/11): USVSST Fund Congressional Report, January 2026.
• Individual and family caps ($20M / $35M / $20M): 34 U.S.C. § 20144(d)(3)(A)(ii).
• Retained creditor rights to unpaid balance, interest, and punitive damages: 34 U.S.C. § 20144(d)(5)(B); “compensatory damages” defined at § 20144(j)(3).
• Attorney-fee cap (15% for 9/11 claimants) and penalty: 34 U.S.C. § 20144(f).
• Fund termination date (January 2, 2039): 34 U.S.C. § 20144(e)(6).