A005118
TO: Mr. Kenneth Feinberg
Special Master
Dear Mr. Feinberg,
Please see my attached comments regarding the Victims' Compensation Fund. I would
very much appreciate your time and consideration in reading my letter. As a fiancee, I am
left in an extremely difficult financial situation. I hope you will take my situation into
account when you are establishing the rules of the fund.
Thank you,
Attachment1:
December 16,2001
Mr. Kenneth R. Feinberg
Special Master
Dear Mr. Feinberg:
I turned 24 this October and wish wholeheartedly that I did not have to
write this letter. I would give anything to have my life turned back to September 10th when I was
writing thank you notes for my fiance's and my engagement gifts, while watching Monday Night
Football in our apartment. I thought 2001 was the best year of my life. My fiance, asked me to marry him in April. I now think of
2001 as the year I became a widow before I even had the chance to say, "I do". I haven't spent a night apart from him since I graduated in May of 1999. At first,
we kept separate apartments, though we were never at one without one another and then we moved in
together. My life stopped existing as soon as the plane hit his building. I
stood outside the trade center not being able to do anything for the man I loved more than anything in
this world. I went to bed alone that night for the first time in two and a half years. I have never been so
lonely in my entire life and have never felt such pain in my heart every minute of the day.
I am writing to you because the rules of the victim's compensation fund are soon to be established.
Many of these people were in their 20's and 30's just beginning
a life of their own, fiancees, who have been
told we have no legal rights to the men we would have called our husbands and were supposed to
spend the rest of our lives with. We receive no Social Security, no Worker's Compensation, we
cannot be named next of kin therefore we cannot be made administrator of their estates. Our names
cannot be listed on their death certificates as spouses even though they asked us to be their wives.
However, our addresses can be listed as the deceased's address since we lived together. We have
gone from being the most important person in our husband-to-be's life, the ones they shared everything
with, to being acknowledged as the equivalent of a good friend because we don't have a piece of paper
that says "marriage certificate".
I always thought marriage was about love, trust and commitment, but I have now discovered all of that
means nothing at this point because I don't have a piece of paper with the words "marriage certificate"
written on the top of it. However, I am left with countless letters, cards and notes stating
that he couldn't wait to be with me forever, that I am his future, how we will be the best team and make
our life and family decisions together. I have the ring he slipped on my finger that symbolizes the
eternity of our love. I know that he purposely waited so long to ask me to marry him because he said
"I wanted to wait until I made enough money to solely support our family" - the exact reason he waited
may now cost him the ability to carry through on his promise. If we were married, I would be taken
care of financially; but because we are not, I most likely will be on my own as soon as the charity stops
because no government agency will recognize that the word engaged means "to be married". We may
not have a marriage certificate, not because we didn't have plans to get one on September 7, 2002, but
because we were robbed of having the chance to sign one. , we have every wedding
contract for our completely planned wedding that we won't get to have. This summer when I thought
about moving the date up and changing all the already finished plans, The ceremony is for everyone else - a signed
piece of paper means nothing"... if only he knew now. We had our engagement party on September
8th with all of our family and friends. We had a lifetime of plans. We were planning our honeymoon.
We had just purchased new furniture for our home. We knew in two years that we would buy a house
and start a family. My therapist explained to me that with homicide it may take five years before a
person can think clearly again. I explained to her that in five years I was supposed to be in my home
with my husband taking care of our three year old and pregnant with our second child,
The reason I write you is that there are countless wives and fiancees who share my feelings. We all had
planned our lives with the men we called our husbands and had them instantly erased on September
11th. However, fiancees are now left with nothing, while the wives are told they will be taken care of
forever. We shared our home and all of its expenses. I have received assistance
from several charities. For the most part, they have treated me as a spouse because we were engaged
and did live together as any other married couple. There was no difference between or a
couple who was married for three months or three years, besides a piece of paper. The difference is
now. Any government agency or court feels that because they have a piece of paper that they deserve
to have one less worry in life and be taken care of financially. However, because I don't have this piece
of paper I receive no benefits. I realize there has also been a lot of emphasis placed on domestic
partners and I agree that they deserve benefits as well. However, there has been no emphasis on
fiancees. I personally don't consider living together one year or more a guaranteed commitment
between two people. I believe being engaged and living together symbolizes a lifetime commitment,
marriage. already publicly announced and celebrated his engagement and desire to commit his life
to me when he asked me to be his wife. We had made the ultimate commitment to each other. which I
believe holds much greater value than a couple that has simply lived together.
This is the reason that I ask that the fiancees be treated equally with spouses. If you can prove that you
were engaged and already living together as a family (with documents) then that to me is as legitimate as
a marriage certificate. I have our bridal registries, every wedding contract for September 7, 2002 from
the church, reception, band, photographer, florist and caterer, the engagement party invitation and
pictures from it. I have our lease, renter's insurance, and every piece of mail that goes to the same
address for the both of us. I know I have everything possible that proved and my intentions of
having our wedding and currently exisiting as a committed financially inter-dependent couple. I know
that I cannot maintain even a remote resemblence to the lifestyle that we lived without assistance.
Instead of making financial decisions about our future with my husband-to-be, I am forced to face the
possiblity that may no longer be able to care for me unless the legislation is revised to
acknowledge our commitment to each other to be husband and wife.
Unfortunately with the death of a special person, like , there are countless people who are deeply
saddened and affected. This was simply seen by the 2000 people that attended memorial
service. However, there is only one person as a result of death who was affected financially.
Unfortunately, that person is me, his fiancee. I was told that the Victim's Compensation fund was
set-up to provide long-term financial assistance to the people who were financially dependent on the
victim's income. This fund cannot serve its purpose to the people in their 20's and 30's who didn't have
the chance to "legally" marry those they had asked, unless fiancees are allowed to file with the same
fights as spouses. Simply stated, fiancees are just as financially dependent upon the men in their lives as
the wives are. We are one in the same. At some point, every married couple was engaged.
My current financial situation without is petrifying to me. I went from being a well-off couple with
a bright future to a single person trying to figure out how long she can pay rent for before the charity is
gone. income was approximately 3/4 of our combined income. Our rent is more that my entire
monthly income. and I lived as one. He always told me "there is no yours and mine, only ours".
Now because we were robbed of the chance of having our wedding and there is no official marriage
certificate, I receive no help except from the charities. I had made each other beneficiaries on
our life insurance policies, but since the records were destroyed, the company must pay the money to
the next of kin, his parents. I can receive no government aid or have access to his estate based on
New York State laws. I am relying solely on charitable aid to help me keep our apartment and pay our
living expenses. I know the charity will stop and I have no idea how I will survive long-term if I am not
allowed to file with the Victims' Compensation Fund
I am fully in favor of all of ther terms that other wives I know are asking for: not capping the amount to
be paid out; allowing us to view the amount to be paid before we sign away our rights to sue; allowing
each person the right to an individual hearing; and not including life insurance policies, charitable
contributions and other aid received into the equation that will determine our husbands
"rest-of-their-life-income". However, my biggest fear is that you will exclude a large group of people
who are right now being unrecognized by the government by the government and desperately need the
same long-term financial assitance as a wife.
Fiancees are facing the same emotional pain that "legal" spouses are. We too have to learn to exist
without the men we knew as our husbands. We also have to find a way to pay our bills. While wives,
who are treated as the next-of-kin, have first rights to their husbands' estates and what they considered
"our income", the way the legislation is currently being proposed is that the victim's estate has to file in
the Victims' Compensation Fund. In my case, and in many other fiancees, this would allow the parents
to collect "our income".
Parents have suffered an unbelievable loss as well. Their pain and suffering cannot be measured and
they should be compensated for it. However, theuy did not suffer a direct financial loss as a result of
the victim's lost income. They are able to pay their mortgage with the same money they had in the bank
pre-September 11th and their life plans have not been altered financially. My understanding of the
Victims' Compensation Fund is that it is supposed to provide long-term financial assistance to those
who were specifically dependent on the victim's income. If fiancees aren't specically written into the
legislation as being the primary benficiary (along with spouses) of the fund, then the availability and the
sole purpose of the fund becomes null and void and only allows monies to be distributed to people who
are hurting emotionally, but not financially. I believe the fund should have different levels of filing. The
first level would be for dependents upon the victim's income. This would include spouses, fiancees,
domestic partners, and children. They would be eligible to receive the victim's remaining workable life
salary as well as monies for pain and suffering. The second level would be those who have endured
pain and suffering. This would include parents and siblings of the victim. If the fund is laid out in this
mannerm it will properly distribute monetary compensation to the correct parties. This will elimnate any
parties being "left out" of the fund and further reduce the number of wrongful death suits that would be
filed if they weren't included.
With the charitable aid I estimate to receive, I will only be able to remain in our apartment and maintain
an already reduced lifestyle for one year at the most. A person holding a marriage certificate, even for
one day, will be allowed to grieve properly because they know they are at least financially secure for
the rest of their lives. I truly must believe and put my faith and trust in God, you and the government
that you will take into consideration the people's ages that were lost. I pray you will acknowledge that
simply because many of the people who lost their lives on the 11th were cheated out of their actual
weddings, does not mean that you can't help them keep their promises to those they left behind, to
always take care of them financially. None of the money that I could receive could ever take the place
of . All that it would allow me to do is to have one less thing on my plate to deal with. I feel that I
cannot grieve properly for the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with because I am
constantly concerned about how I am going to pay our bills.
I ask that fiancees (with sufficient documented proof) be allowed to file with the same "next-of-kin"
statues as a spouse with Victims' Compensation Fund. I ask that the Victims' Compensation Fund not
read "the victim's estate may file", but that there be an order of preference in filing, with
spouses/fiancees/domestic partners being allowed to file first. The deceased chose to spend the rest of
their lives with and it is only fair to the deceased that their wishes be honored. We, as spouses,
fiancees, and domestic partners, are the only ones who are left to worry about our financial future. We
have already been deprived of our life partners and our weddings, please don't deprive fiancees of the
financial security our loved ones would have wanted us to have simply because of a marriage certificate.
If the Victims' Compensation Fund does read "the victim's estate may file" then I, along with many
others, will be left with nothing and my fiance's two promises to me " I will always be with you and I will
always take care of you" will then both have been taken away from him and I.
I thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
New York, NY