Brain Injury | Car Accidents | Serving West Virginia
Planning Ahead After a Brain Injury From a Car Accident
Big Bubba Injury Law helps West Virginia families understand what long-term medical and daily care may involve after a serious brain injury. We serve injury victims across the state.
Published October 29, 2026
A life care plan is a written, long-term outline of the medical care, therapy, and daily help a person may need after a serious brain injury. After a car accident in West Virginia, it shows what future care may look like. This guide explains how a life care plan works in a brain injury car accident case. It also shows how the plan fits into a West Virginia claim.
What Is a Life Care Plan, and Who Needs One?
A life care plan is a written projection of the medical, therapy, and daily-living needs a seriously injured person may face over time. A life care planner, often a nurse or rehabilitation professional, prepares it. The planner works from medical records and the person’s current condition.
Plans matter most for people with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Brain injury effects can last a long time. They may not show up right away, and mild cases can be hard to diagnose, according to a review of brain injury care. That uncertainty is why a plan is often written after doctors can describe the likely course of recovery.
Families often ask whether a plan is only for people who will never recover. It is not. Many people recover some function and still need ongoing care. The plan lists what is likely needed, whatever the final outcome. Treating doctors’ opinions carry real weight, because the planner needs to know what treatment is ahead. For more on brain injury claims, read our brain injury claims guide.
Not sure what your next step is?
Talk it through with Big Bubba — the first case review is free, confidential, and carries no obligation.
What a Life Care Plan Covers After a Brain Injury
A life care plan covers the future care the injury is likely to need. Each need is listed by category, with how often and how long it is expected to last.
- Doctor care: neurology, neuropsychology, primary care, and follow-up brain imaging.
- Medicines and equipment: drugs for seizures, headaches, sleep, mood, or mobility aids.
- Therapy: physical, occupational, speech-language, and cognitive rehabilitation.
- Mental health care: counseling for depression, anxiety, irritability, or personality changes.
- Work and school: retraining or supported work when the injury keeps someone from past jobs.
- Getting around: transportation to appointments, and whether the person can still drive.
Detail matters. A line that says “therapy, ongoing” is hard to plan around. A line that says “speech therapy, twice a week” gives family members and insurers something concrete to review. The planner’s job is to make each item specific and easy to check against the medical record.
Long-Term Care, Home Changes, and Support Services
The plan also lists help at home and changes that make daily life safer. These items matter most when a brain injury affects memory, balance, or judgment.
- Personal care hours: help with bathing, meals, medicine, and safety checks.
- Home changes: ramps, bathroom changes, stair lifts, and adapted kitchens.
- Adaptive equipment: wheelchairs, communication devices, and reminder systems for memory problems.
- Respite care: short breaks for family members who provide daily care.
- Future needs: how care needs may change as the person ages.
West Virginia Medicaid also runs home-based programs. Its Home and Community-Based Services waivers include a Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver. Eligibility depends on medical and financial requirements. A plan can note these options next to private care needs.
A life care plan lists needs and the care they require. It does not set a dollar figure by itself. West Virginia law also keeps a specific dollar amount out of the complaint in personal injury and wrongful death actions, under W. Va. Code § 55-7-25.
How the Plan Is Built: Steps and Timeline
A life care plan is built in steps, starting with records and ending with cost estimates. Each step builds on the one before it.
- Gather records. This includes emergency care notes, hospital discharge summaries, imaging, neuropsychological testing, and therapy notes.
- Get treating doctors’ views. Doctors explain the current condition, the expected course, and future treatment.
- Interview the injured person and family. The planner reviews daily routines and what help is needed.
- Draft the care categories. Each item gets a provider type, a frequency, and a duration.
- Estimate costs. Each item is priced. An economist may be used to project the present value of future expenses.
Records can be harder to keep together than people expect. If a treating doctor retires or leaves a practice, the records still need to be available. The Board of Medicine guidance on closing a practice covers patient records and continuity of care.
Timelines vary. The medical picture, the number of providers, and the complexity of the injury all affect how long a plan takes. Starting the records work early keeps the process moving.
How the Plan Fits Into a West Virginia Car Accident Claim
A life care plan gives a claim a written record of future needs. Those needs are not left to memory or guesses. How much a claim may recover depends on the facts.
- See W. Va. Code § 55-7-13d.
- If a nonparty is assessed a percentage of fault, any recovery by a plaintiff is reduced in proportion to the percentage of fault chargeable to that nonparty (W. Va. Code § 55-7-13d(a)(3)). See W. Va. Code § 55-7-13c.
- Under W. Va. Code § 55-7-11a, a settlement, release of liability or statement obtained in violation of that section may be disavowed by the injured person at any time within one hundred eighty days from the date of the personal injury, by executing a written statement of disavowal and forwarding a copy of it to the person violating this section (statute text). See W. Va. Code § 55-7-11a.
- Insurance. Policy limits and uninsured motorist coverage can affect recovery. See W. Va. Code § 33-6-31.
An insurer may ask for a statement while the injured person is still in the hospital. Reviewing coverage early helps families make informed choices.
In truck crashes, more than one party may share responsibility.
How the Firm Handles Life Care Plan Cases
The firm represents people seriously hurt in car and commercial truck crashes, catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries, and families in wrongful death cases across West Virginia.
For brain injury cases, the firm follows the same steps described above. We review medical records, help organize the information a plan depends on, and track what providers recommend for future care.
We serve injury victims across all 55 West Virginia counties, including Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Wheeling, Martinsburg, Parkersburg, Beckley, Clarksburg, Fairmont and Weirton.
The first step is a free case review. It is confidential, and it comes with no obligation to continue. Bring the discharge papers, imaging reports, and insurance information you already have.
Not sure what your next step is?
Talk it through with Big Bubba — the first case review is free, confidential, and carries no obligation.
Common Questions About Life Care Plans After a Brain Injury
Most common questions come down to timing, changes, and what a plan does and does not do.
Do I need a life care plan while I’m still recovering?
Plans are often written once the medical picture is clearer. Gathering records can start sooner.
Can a life care plan change over time?
Yes. Needs can change, so a plan can be updated as treatment changes.
Does a life care plan set the value of my claim?
No. It lists future needs and the care each one requires.
What if my family member cannot describe symptoms well?
Family members who know daily routines can help. Their accounts go alongside medical records.
Can brain injury symptoms show up later?
Yes. Effects may not be immediately apparent, according to the review of brain injury care.
Next Steps After a Brain Injury From a Car Crash
The first step is to start gathering records and daily-life details now. A free case review then gives the firm a chance to look at your facts.
If your loved one was hurt in a car crash and you’re now deciding about future care, records, and whether to pursue a claim, request a free case review or tell the firm what happened.