Physician Liability Worksheet

This worksheet records liability policies, possible exemptions, ownership, debts, contracts, and property for a later exposure review. It assigns each professional or practice liability to a policy and records contract obligations separately.

A liability claim alleges that a person or entity owes money for an injury, damage, or contract duty. A judgment is a court order that confirms an amount owed. A creditor can then use a bank levy, wage garnishment, or judgment lien. An exemption protects specified property from some collection.

Print this page or save it as a PDF. Use current declarations pages, contracts, account statements, deeds, loan balances, and exemption forms. Mark an amount as an estimate when needed. Investigate each blank cell.

1. List each type of liability

Use these four common types. Add another row for each activity that uses different insurance.

Type of liability	Examples	Primary insurance
Medical professional liability	Patient injury from professional care	Malpractice policy
Entity professional liability	Claim against the practice for a clinician's care	Entity malpractice coverage
Practice business liability	Premises injury, employment claim, or privacy event	Practice liability policies
Contractual obligation	Lease, loan, guarantee, or indemnity duty	Contract-specific; liability coverage may apply

Add a medical directorship, supervision duty, outside clinical work, or separate practice when applicable. Use a separate row when activities use different policies.

2. Record each policy

Use a separate row for each policy. Do not combine limits from different policies unless the policy documents permit it.

Policy	Named insureds	Covered activity	Per-claim limit	Annual limit	Renewal date

A named insured is a person or entity listed for coverage. Check each physician, clinician, practice entity, property entity, location, and service against the issued terms. An additional insured receives only the coverage specified by an endorsement. A named insured and an additional insured can have different rights.

For a claims-made policy, add the retroactive date and the person responsible for tail coverage. Record whether defense costs reduce the limit. For a shared group limit, name each person who can use the annual limit.

3. Record ownership and contracts

List the legal owner of each practice, location, vehicle, and other property. Then list each contract that assigns liability to a person or entity.

Item	Legal owner	Used by	Related contract	Personal guarantee
Practice operations
Office or building
Major equipment
Vehicle or other property

A personal guarantee is a promise to pay another person's or entity's debt. Check loans, leases, equipment agreements, and business credit documents. Record each guarantee while it remains in force.

4. Record property and possible exemptions

List each asset under its legal owner. Record the document or legal authority for each possible exemption.

Property or income	Legal owner	Approximate value	Debt against it	Possible exemption	Source document
Home equity
Bank accounts
Retirement accounts
Practice ownership
Other property

Use the current California Judicial Council exemption forms linked in the sources. Add the deed, plan statement, lien record, or legal analysis that supports each entry.

5. Calculate three separate results

Do not subtract total insurance limits from total net worth. Policies apply to specific claims. A malpractice policy does not cover an auto claim. A personal umbrella does not cover professional negligence. Liability insurance does not repay a guaranteed lease.

Calculate these three results.

Insurance available for each type of liability. Record the per-claim limit, annual limit, deductible or retention, and each person or entity that shares the limit. State whether defense costs reduce the limit.
Property that no identified exemption protects. Add the approximate equity in each asset after liens. Record the exemption source and the amount that remains open to review.
Amounts owed under personal contracts. Record the remaining balance or formula for each personal guarantee, indemnity duty, and recourse obligation.

Review the three results separately. For example, a $3 million malpractice policy can cover the physician while a new practice entity remains absent from the policy. A 401(k) can receive statutory protection while an old office lease still has an unlimited guarantee.

6. Read a worked example

This example shows the results of a completed worksheet.

Item	What the file shows	Required review
Malpractice	$1 million per claim / $3 million aggregate; professional corporation shares the policy	Confirm whether defense costs reduce the limit and whether every clinician is scheduled
Practice entity	Professional corporation is not listed on the physician's policy	Obtain and review issued policy terms or an endorsement before relying on coverage
Cyber policy	$250,000 sublimit for breach response	Compare the sublimit with the practice's records and vendor exposure
Hospital 401(k)	$640,000 in an employer plan	Preserve the plan record before deciding on a rollover
IRA	$210,000 from two prior rollovers	Trace each rollover and record the California exemption rule
Home	$520,000 estimated equity after the mortgage	Calculate the exemption from the current county and statutory amounts
Brokerage account	$310,000; no identified exemption	Compare the uncovered personal property with the personal and professional limits
Office lease	$420,000 remaining; physician signed a guarantee	Find the release condition and keep debt separate from liability coverage

In this example, the physician should review issued policy terms or an endorsement for the professional corporation, review the malpractice defense clause, and find the office lease's written release condition. A new trust would not correct these three items.

7. Record each open question

Use these prompts for the insurance review.

Which type of liability has no policy?
Which policy has an outdated person, entity, location, or service?
Which limit is lower than the contract requires?
Which policy exclusion affects a current activity?

Use these prompts for the legal review.

Who owns each asset and practice entity?
Which contracts create a personal guarantee or indemnity duty?
Which exemptions may apply after a judgment?
Does any trust change control, ownership, or creditor access?
Would any planned transfer create a voidable-transfer risk?

Update the worksheet after a new job, location, clinician, service, loan, lease, marriage, or ownership change. Review it before each malpractice renewal.