Blog

The Cordero Case

On March 14, 2023, the New York State Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the matter of Cordero v. Transamerica (Cordero Case) – a significant case for structured settlements because it challenges important assumptions about contractual rights and duties among settlement recipients, assignment companies and annuity providers. Plaintiff Lujerio Cordero (Cordero) is/was a structured settlement...

A Structured Settlement Interview with ChatGPT: An Introduction

Introduction ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. You can access a trial version for free. Using ChatGPT’s inquiry process, Independent Life received the unedited answers below to the indicated questions we submitted. *Independent Life does not claim to validate the accuracy, or lack thereof, of ChatGPT’s responses to Independent Life’s questions. Likewise,...

Assignment of Rights or Delegation of Duties?

Introduction A single structured settlement often involves multiple areas of law – including tort, tax, contract, Social Security, insurance, to name just a few. Sometimes laws impacting a structured settlement not only overlap but also conflict thereby creating potential problems and/or confusion. For example, although structured settlement periodic payments generally are excluded from federal income...

PFAS Litigation and Settlements – A Structured Settlement Opportunity?

PFAS chemicals, litigation and settlements have received considerable attention during the past several years – everywhere it seems except within the structured settlement and settlement planning markets. What are PFAS chemicals and why should they matter to members of NSSTA, AASC and SSP?  Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), also known as “forever chemicals”, are a...

Non-Qualified Assignments and Structured Installment Sales

A non-qualified assignment is a transfer of payment obligations that does not qualify under IRC Section 130. Non-qualified assignments, however, do share certain similarities as well as certain differences with assignments that do qualify under IRC Section 130 (“qualified assignments”).   Qualified Assignments Compared The term “qualified assignment” is defined for tax purposes by IRC...

Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments Release 71

For many settlement planners and structured settlement annuity providers, the dominant storylines of the past two years have been COVID-19 (COVID), low interest rates and plummeting structured settlement annuity sales.  In 2019, based on industry reports, $6.47 billion of annuities were purchased to fund 26,486 structured settlement cases, for an average per case premium of $244,228.....

Factoring: Is Judicial Education Really the Solution?

For the past 20 plus years, two related industry issues have dominated the strategic agenda of the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA): 1) factoring (aka the transfer of structured settlement payment rights) and 2) lack of growth in the primary structured settlement market.   NSSTA’s Legislation Accomplishment By the end of the 1990s, NSSTA...