API Inc. Asbestos Settlement Trust Claims

API Inc. Asbestos Trust Facts

Important: API’s TDP does not use one nationwide mesothelioma value. It publishes separate Allowed Liquidated Values for Minnesota and North Dakota and directs the Trustee to determine values for claims governed by other states using credible comparable settlement data, subject to the TDP. Wisconsin and South Dakota claims have also been directed by Trustee notices to use the North Dakota schedule when the other TDP criteria are met.

Bankruptcy and Trust History

API, Inc. filed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case on January 6, 2005 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Gregory F. Kishel confirmed the Third Amended Plan of Reorganization, as modified at confirmation, on December 6, 2005. The Trust’s audited 2025 financial statements state that the API, Inc. Asbestos Settlement Trust was organized under Bankruptcy Code section 524(g) and was consummated on February 5, 2007.

The Trust was formed to assume asbestos claims against API, Inc., including future asbestos claims, and to use Trust assets and income to pay holders of allowed claims under the Plan, Trust Agreement and Trust Distribution Procedures. The Trust was initially funded with cash, a promissory note from API, Inc., rights to asbestos-insurance proceeds and insurance-settlement rights.

Who May Qualify to File an API Inc. Asbestos Claim?

A claimant must establish a compensable asbestos-related disease and exposure to asbestos-containing material sold, installed or removed by API. The TDP recognizes five principal disease categories: Malignant Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Other Cancers, Asbestosis and Pleural Disease.

The Trust’s June 2024 instructions state that its claims process is the exclusive method for asserting and receiving compensation for asbestos-related injuries claimed to have been caused by API. A claimant must submit the Trust’s current claim form, required medical and exposure evidence, and the applicable processing fee.

Eligibility is determined from the evidence and the TDP. Employment at a location where API performed work, by itself, does not establish an allowed claim without sufficient proof linking the claimant to qualifying API asbestos-product or operational exposure.

API Disease Categories and Allowed Liquidated Values

The TDP provides the following Allowed Liquidated Values for Minnesota and North Dakota claims:

These are Allowed Liquidated Values, not scheduled values and not guaranteed payments. The TDP states that all Direct Asbestos Claims are individually reviewed. For claims outside Minnesota and North Dakota, the Trustee determines an allowed value using credible comparable settlement data from other states under the standards in the TDP, and the resulting value may not exceed the Minnesota value for the most similar disease category.

The TDP also gives the Trustee, with required consent, authority to modify disease categories and increase or decrease Allowed Liquidated Values to reflect relevant developments. Claimants should therefore use the current Trust materials when filing.

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Current API Payment Sum Percentage

The Trust’s July 1, 2023 Trustee notice reduced the Payment Sum Percentage to 22% for all claims approved on or after July 1, 2023, whether filed before or after that date. The Trust’s audited 2025 financial statements confirm that the percentage remained 22% through December 31, 2025. The official notices page reviewed for this page did not publish a later percentage change.

The TDP describes payment as the applicable Allowed Liquidated Value multiplied by the then-current Payment Sum Percentage, subject to the Trustee’s powers over claim evaluation, timing and payment. Enhanced payments for certain exigent-health, extraordinary or extreme-hardship claims have historically been deferred when the Trust determines its financial condition does not permit them.

Mathematical illustration only — not a guaranteed payment.

• Minnesota Malignant Mesothelioma: $316,250 × 22% = $69,575.
• North Dakota Malignant Mesothelioma: $117,087 × 22% = $25,759.14.
• Minnesota Lung Cancer: $137,050 × 22% = $30,151.
• North Dakota Lung Cancer: $44,777 × 22% = $9,850.94.

These are arithmetic examples only. Actual eligibility, disease categorization, governing state, allowed liquidated value, Trustee determinations, releases, payment timing and current Trust procedures control actual payment. The 2025 annual report confirms that one new Minnesota malignant-mesothelioma claim paid during 2025 received $69,575, which equals 22% of the published Minnesota mesothelioma Allowed Liquidated Value.

How API Claims Are Filed and Reviewed

API does not use the common Expedited Review versus Individual Review structure used by some other asbestos trusts. Its TDP states that all Direct Asbestos Claims are individually reviewed by the Trustee or the Trustee’s agents.

The current June 27, 2024 Claim Form Instructions require a completed typed claim form, supporting documentation and a $1,000 processing fee. The instructions state that the fee is refunded if the claim is allowed. Claim forms and supporting materials are to be converted to PDF and submitted by email to the Trust, while the processing-fee check is mailed separately to the Trust’s Minneapolis address.

The current instructions direct claimants to submit the claim form, fee and supporting documentation within nine months after receipt of the claims materials. Once a claim is approved, payment is conditional on the Trust’s receipt of required fully executed releases. A claimant disputing eligibility, disease categorization or the amount offered must use the review, mediation/arbitration and litigation procedures described in the TDP.

Medical and Exposure Requirements

For Category I — Malignant Mesothelioma, the TDP requires a medical report demonstrating malignant mesothelioma and proof establishing at least a 10-year latency period between first asbestos exposure and diagnosis. Lung Cancer likewise requires a medical report showing primary asbestos-related lung cancer and a 10-year latency period.

Other Cancers require additional disease-specific evidence, including a qualifying primary cancer site, specified evidence of asbestos-related nonmalignant disease or pathological evidence, and the latency requirement. Asbestosis and Pleural Disease have their own medical documentation criteria.

The Trust’s June 2024 instructions require proof of exposure to API asbestos products. Acceptable proof may include work history, Social Security records, invoices, company records or deposition testimony. Certain documentary categories must be accompanied by a sworn affidavit establishing authenticity. The TDP also permits credible evidence showing that the claimant worked at a facility, or was secondarily exposed through a family member, when API asbestos-containing products or services were present during the relevant period.

2025 Financial and Claims Statistics

The Trustee’s Annual Report for 2025, dated April 29, 2026, includes audited special-purpose financial statements and current claim-payment information:

• Total assets: $7,906,909 as of December 31, 2025.
• Net claimants’ equity: $7,734,226 as of December 31, 2025.
• Cash and cash equivalents: $506,009 at year-end 2025.
• Investments: $5,775,900 at year-end 2025.
• Claims payable: $110,621 at year-end 2025.
• Distributions to claimants recorded in 2025: $151,734.
• One new claim paid in 2025: a Minnesota Malignant Mesothelioma claim paid $69,575 on September 9, 2025.
• Total amount of claims paid through December 31, 2025: $93,989,766.67, according to Exhibit D of the annual report.

The report separately shows the Trust’s original API, Inc. promissory note had a face value of $26 million and a remaining receivable balance of $1.625 million at December 31, 2025. Historical funding components should not be confused with the Trust’s current assets or net claimants’ equity.

The report’s $151,734 in 2025 distributions from net claimants’ equity is also not the same statistic as the single $69,575 new claim payment shown in Exhibit B. The annual report contains payments and accounting classifications from different claim/payment periods, so those figures should not be conflated.

Confirmed Primary Sources for Trust Facts

This page was researched from the Trust’s own documents and bankruptcy-related records. No law-firm or lead-generation source was used as factual authority. Primary materials reviewed include:

• Official API, Inc. Asbestos Settlement Trust website.
• Official Trust Plan Documents page.
• API Trust Distribution Procedures dated November 21, 2005.
• Official Claim Forms & Instructions page.
• Claim Form Instructions, Revision June 27, 2024.
• Official Notices From the Trustee, including the July 1, 2023 Payment Sum Percentage notice.
• Annual Report of the Trustee, 2025, dated April 29, 2026, including audited special-purpose financial statements and claim exhibits.

The 2025 annual report provides current year-end assets, net claimants’ equity, annual distributions and cumulative dollars paid, so those figures are included with their reporting dates. No unsupported estimate of current claimant recovery or future Trust assets is presented.

Get Help Reviewing an API Inc. Asbestos Claim

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Prior asbestos exposure does not automatically establish eligibility for an API asbestos trust claim or an asbestos lawsuit. Eligibility depends on medical and exposure evidence, applicable Trust procedures, filing requirements, governing law and individual circumstances. Compensation is not guaranteed.