By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.
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How a second advance usually happens
A second advance tends to come in one of three forms, and each one works differently at payoff time.
- A top-up from the same company. You sign a new contract or an amendment for more money. Nevada requires a contract with the same company to show the cumulative amount due on all of your fundings from it (NRS 604C.350(1)(f)).
- A second company alongside the first. Each company holds its own contract and its own claim on your share. Illinois and Nevada allow two or more companies to fund you at the same time only if you and your lawyer agree in writing.
- A buyout. A new company pays off the first one and folds that payoff into a larger contract of its own.
Repeat requests are not unusual. In records from one large funder studied by Avraham and Sebok, 75% of the clients who brought a single case filed one funding request, 13% filed two, and another 12% filed an average of 5.3 requests (104 Cornell L. Rev. 1133 (2019)). Those are requests in one company’s data, and they say nothing about whether your request would be approved. How much a company will advance in total is covered on our page about how much you can get.
What state laws say about stacking and buyouts
| State | Rule on more than one advance |
|---|---|
| California, Bus. & Prof. Code 6254(a)(5) | A company may not fund a consumer who already assigned or sold part of the proceeds without first making payment to satisfy that assignment, if it knew or should have known about it |
| Illinois, 815 ILCS 121/15(6), 25(d) | A company may not knowingly fund you on already-assigned proceeds without first paying the earlier company’s full funded amount and charges, unless they agree in writing to a lesser amount; concurrent funding needs your and your lawyer’s written consent. Charges on additional funds run 42 months from their own funding date |
| Nevada, NRS 604C.300 | Same buyout rule, paying or purchasing the earlier company’s entire funded amount and charges unless the companies agree in writing; concurrent funding with written consent |
| Tennessee, 47-16-110 | The annual fee may be charged only once a year per legal claim, however many transactions there are; obligations from an original transaction may not be folded into a later one |
| West Virginia, 46A-6N-9(b), (f) | Same two rules as Tennessee: one annual fee per claim per year, and no carrying an original transaction’s obligations into a later one |
States not listed may have no rule on this at all. The state law table shows which states have funding statutes, and the Illinois page covers that law in more depth.
Limits on how long charges can grow
Many funding statutes stop charges after a set time. Each limit applies to a contract or funding, which is why a second advance or a buyout can matter:
- California: charges may not exceed 36 months from the funding date (section 6250(a))
- Nebraska: no fees for any period beyond 36 months from the contract date (25-3305)
- Maine: no fees for any period beyond 42 months from the contract date (12-105)
- West Virginia: no fees beyond 42 months from the contract date (46A-6N-9(e))
- Illinois: no charges more than 42 months after the funding date, with a fresh 42 months for additional funds (section 25(d))
- Tennessee: a transaction may not exceed a three-year term (47-16-110(c))
- Missouri: a contract is invalid if its terms exceed 48 months, and it may not renew automatically (RSMo 436.558)
Two other states limit the total instead. Georgia bars a funder from contracting for or recovering more than the share of the proceeds the plaintiffs themselves recover after attorney fees and costs (O.C.G.A. 7-10-4(a)(4)), and Montana bars more than 25% of the judgment or settlement (31-4-104(1)(d)). Those caps apply to what the funder recovers, so a second advance does not raise them.
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How the math compounds
The table uses round hypothetical numbers and an invented charge: 20% of the balance every six months, compounded each six months, with no fees and no cap. It is not a typical rate. Your contract’s terms decide what you would owe.
| Example only: month | Owed on first advance ($3,000 at month 0) | Owed on second advance ($2,000 at month 12) | Total owed | Cash you received |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $3,000 | none | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| 6 | $3,600 | none | $3,600 | $3,000 |
| 12 | $4,320 | $2,000 | $6,320 | $5,000 |
| 18 | $5,184 | $2,400 | $7,584 | $5,000 |
| 24 | $6,221 | $2,880 | $9,101 | $5,000 |
| 30 | $7,465 | $3,456 | $10,921 | $5,000 |
| 36 | $8,958 | $4,147 | $13,105 | $5,000 |
Two things stand out. The first advance keeps growing on its own growing balance while the second one starts, so the total climbs faster after month 12. And a buyout at month 12 under these same terms would roll the $4,320 payoff into a new $6,320 balance, which reaches the same $9,101 at month 24. The difference is the clock. If the buyout is a new contract, a time limit such as California’s 36 months may run from the new funding date, so charges on money you received years earlier can keep growing. Tennessee and West Virginia address this by barring a company from folding the old transaction’s obligations into a new one. Our cost page explains how charges and rates are stated.
What to ask before you sign
- What is the combined payoff on every advance I have, at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months?
- Is this a new contract, an amendment, or a buyout of my earlier advance?
- If it is a buyout, what is the exact payoff to the first company, and is that amount part of the new balance?
- When do charges stop on each contract under this agreement and under my state’s law?
- Does my lawyer need to sign a new acknowledgment or consent in writing?
- Could I cover the need another way? See our page on alternatives.
Common questions
Can I get a second advance from a different company?
Often, yes. In California, Illinois and Nevada, the new company generally must pay off the earlier one first, though Illinois and Nevada allow concurrent funding with written consent from you and your lawyer.
Will the new company pay off the old one?
In a buyout it does, and the payoff becomes part of what you owe the new company. Ask for the payoff figure in writing.
Does a second advance restart the time limit?
In Illinois, charges on additional funds run 42 months from their own funding date. Elsewhere, check whether the limit runs from the contract date or the funding date.
Will my lawyer have to sign again?
In states that require an attorney acknowledgment in every funding contract, a new contract needs one. Concurrent funding in Illinois and Nevada also needs your lawyer’s written consent.
How do I keep track of what I owe?
Ask each company for a written payoff schedule and give copies to your lawyer, who will pay them from the settlement. Our page on how an advance is paid back explains that step. The lawsuit cash advance guide has the rest of this section. Beverly Law does not offer or arrange lawsuit funding and receives no payment from funding companies. Beverly Law offers a free case review in English or Spanish at (310) 552-6959 if you have questions about your injury case. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.
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Related pages
Cash advance on a lawsuit · Laws by state · Injury law FAQs
Sources
- Avraham & Sebok, An Empirical Investigation of Third Party Consumer Litigant Funding, 104 Cornell L. Rev. 1133 (2019) (publications.lawschool.cornell.edu)
- California AB 931 (Bus. & Prof. Code 6250, 6254), official bill text (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
- CalMatters Digital Democracy, chaptered text of AB 931 (calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org)
- Illinois Consumer Legal Funding Act, 815 ILCS 121 (ilga.gov)
- Nevada NRS Chapter 604C (leg.state.nv.us)
- Tennessee Code 47-16-110 (Justia, 2025) (law.justia.com)
- West Virginia Code 46A-6N-9 (code.wvlegislature.gov)
- Nebraska Rev. Stat. 25-3305 (nebraskalegislature.gov)
- Maine 9-A M.R.S. 12-105 (legislature.maine.gov)
- Missouri RSMo 436.558 (revisor.mo.gov)
- Georgia SB 69 (2025), as signed (O.C.G.A. 7-10-4) (gov.georgia.gov)
- Montana Code 31-4-104 (mca.legmt.gov)
Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.