Structured Settlements:

Structured Settlements

A structured settlement is a financial or insurance arrangement, including periodic payments, that a claimant accepts to resolve a personal injury tort claim or to compromise a statutory periodic payment obligation. Structured settlements were first utilized in Canada and the United States during the 1970s as an alternative to lump sum settlements. Structured settlements are now part of the statutory tort law of several common law countries including: Australia, Canada, England and the United States. Although some uniformity exists, each of these countries has its own definitions, rules and standards for structured settlement. Strcutured settlements may include income tax and spendthrift requirements as well as benefits. Structured settlement payments are sometimes called “periodic payments”. A structured settlement incorporated into a trial judgment is called a “periodic payment judgment”.

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• Structured settlement factoring transaction
• Cashing in on a Structured Settlement

The United States has enacted structured settlement laws and regulations at both the federal and state levels. Federal structured settlement laws include sections of the Federal Internal Revenue Code. State structured settlement laws include structured settlement protection statutes and periodic payment of judgment statutes. Medicaid and Medicare laws and regulations impact structured settlements. To preserve a claimant’s Medicare and Medicaid benefits, structured settlement payments may be incorporated into “Medicare Set Aside Arrangements” and “Special Needs Trusts”.

Definitions
The United States defines “structured settlement” for Federal income taxation purposes in Internal Revenue Code Section 5891 (c) (1) as an "arrangement" that meets the following requirements:

• A structured settlement must be established by:
• A suit or agreement for periodic payment of damages excludable from gross income under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(2); or
• An agreement for the periodic payment of compensation under any workers’ compensation law excludable under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(1); and

•  The periodic payments must be of the character described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of Internal Revenue Code Section 130(c)(2) and must be payable by a person who:
• Is a party to the suit or agreement or to a workers compensation claims; or
• By a person who has assumed the liability for such periodic payments under a Qualified Assignment in accordance with Internal Revenue Code Section 130.

Also:
What if I misplace or lose the paperwork on my settlement?
Normally, if you have misplaced your paperwork, a copy can be obtained from a variety of sources. Contact the company that is responsible for administering your payments, your attorney, the company that settled your case, or the broker that assisted you with the structured settelment during the settlement.

In recent years, more than 35 states and the federal government have enacted consumer protection statutes that establish strict conditions for these transactions. Under the federal law, court oversight and approval is required for injury victims who chose to sell payments from a structrued settlement to a third-party company. http://www.nssta.com/

See also:
Annuity
Common law
Disability
Life care planning
Medicaid
Medicare
Special needs trust
• Structured Settlement Factoring Transaction
• Tort
• Deferred Annuity
• best fixed annuities
• fixed indexed annuities
• Life Annuity
• credit shelter trusts
Tort reform

• Cash for Structured Settlements
• Structured settlement companies
• Why Selling Structured Settlement Payments Might Be Choice For You
• What Is Selling Structured Settlements
• Structured Settlements The Benefits of Having Cash In Hand

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Structured Settlements".