What's Actually Left After the Caps, the Round, the Fee, and the Offsets
A companion to the calculator: the plain mechanics of how a USVSST payment gets built, step by step.

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The short version

A USVSST payment is not a fixed dollar amount. It is a pro rata share, built by running your judgment through a set of steps, so two families with the same judgment on paper can end up with very different checks depending on caps, timing, and what they have already received elsewhere.

The build has five steps. Start with the gross compensatory damages in your final judgment. Apply the $20 million individual cap. Apply the family cap. Multiply by the round's payment percentage. Then subtract compensation you have already received from sources other than the Fund. Only claims with amounts still outstanding and unpaid are included; a fully paid claim receives nothing further.

The calculator on our 9/11 Families page walks these same steps with your own numbers. This page explains what each step is doing so the output makes sense. Nothing here is tax or legal advice, and no figure here is a promise about your individual award.

The two caps, then the round percentage

Two cap layers come first. The individual cap treats any single judgment's gross compensatory damages above $20 million as $20 million. Then a family cap applies: $35 million for a group made up of the 9/11 victim, spouse, and dependents, and a lower $20 million for a group of 9/11 family members who are not the victim, spouse, or dependent, such as non-dependent parents or siblings. The individual cap is applied first, then the family cap, and the capped total is shared in proportion to the individual awards.

After the caps, the capped amount is multiplied by the round's payment percentage. This is the number that surprises people, because it is small by design. The Fund pays pro rata out of whatever money is actually available, round by round, until it sunsets in 2039.

For the most recent round, Round 6, authorized in December 2025 and paid in January 2026, the 9/11 payment percentage was 1.64 percent, calculated on the capped-judgment basis. That is a fact about Round 6, not a forecast. The Fund itself states there is no way to predict what percentage future claims will be paid, so treat any past round's percentage as history, not a rate you can count on next time.

The fee cap, stated as the law

On a 9/11-related claim, the law caps attorney fees and costs at 15 percent of any award payment made after November 21, 2019. The Special Master will not approve fees above that cap, and the cap overrides any retainer or fee agreement that says otherwise. It applies to every award payment, not just the first.

That is the statute, not a comment on any particular firm or any particular bill. Charging, receiving, or collecting more than the cap is a federal crime under the Act. If your fee agreement reads higher than 15 percent on a 9/11-related claim, that is a question for your own attorney and worth raising directly.

For the payment build, the practical point is simple: the fee comes out of the payment after the caps and the round percentage have already done their work. So the fee is a percentage of an already-reduced number, not of your headline judgment.

The offset that only runs one direction

Here is the rule most people state backward. A USVSST payment does reduce a VCF award, but a VCF award does not reduce a USVSST payment. The relationship is one-directional, and treating it as symmetric leads to real planning mistakes.

On the VCF side, an award is economic loss plus non-economic loss, minus collateral offsets. Collateral offsets are amounts the victim, estate, or beneficiaries received or are entitled to receive as a result of the 9/11 injury or death, such as life insurance, certain pensions, workers' compensation, and USVSST Fund payments. A USVSST payment sits in that list and is subtracted from the VCF award.

On the USVSST side, the reverse is not true. A 2019 amendment struck the old language that counted a VCF award against USVSST. A VCF award still has to be reported on the USVSST application, but it will not be considered an offset and is not counted in the USVSST 30 percent other-sources test. So a VCF award neither disqualifies nor shrinks a USVSST payment.

In build terms: when you compute a VCF award, subtract a received or entitled USVSST amount as a collateral offset. When you compute a USVSST payment, do not subtract the VCF amount and do not put it in the 30 percent test. Any specific award computation belongs with your VCF counsel.

What the number does and does not tell you

The build gives you a shape, not a verdict. It shows how caps, a round percentage, a capped fee, and a one-directional offset move a headline judgment toward an actual payment. It does not tell you what your individual award will be, and it does not settle how any of it is taxed.

On tax, be careful with the word tax-free. A VCF award's principal is excluded from federal gross income under IRS Publication 3920 and IRC section 139(f). A USVSST payment is different: there is no blanket federal exclusion, and the treatment is character-dependent. The portion compensating physical injury or death is generally excludable under IRC section 104(a)(2), while interest and punitive portions are generally taxable. The Fund issues no 1099 and takes no position, which is a reason to route every tax question to a tax professional, not a proof that a payment is untaxed.

Sirmium Capital is a New York state-registered investment adviser. This is top-of-funnel education, not legal or tax advice. Eligibility and judgment questions go to counsel; tax questions go to your CPA. If you want a calm second read on how a payment might fit the rest of your plan, you can book a free 15-minute call, and we will point you to the right professional for anything outside our lane.