With so many companies promoting selling all or a portion of your structured settlement, you may find yourself considering this option. Whether your structured settlement is the result of a worker’s compensation claim, personal injury, or property loss, the option to convert your structured settlement to a lump sum could becoming increasingly more attractive as a means to meet financial demands. Unfortunately in today’s economic climate, many are resorting to options they might not otherwise have considered. Before making the decision to sell your structured settlement, it is important to arm yourself with the necessary information to allow you to make the best decision possible for your circumstances. As with most things, there are both advantages and disadvantages to structured settlements. One of the advantages is that the settlement guarantees a specific amount to be paid over a period of time. This not only protects you from rapidly depleting the settlement, but it also provides a dependable revenue stream over the course of the settlement schedule. Conversely, the disadvantages include the inflexibility of not being able to access the money when you need it and the loss of potential investment returns.
Prior to 2002 the tax benefits of a structured settlement benefited both the company making the payments and the recipient as the payments made were tax free. In order to protect the injured party, Congress granted these tax benefits to structured settlements as a means to keep the injured from prematurely depleting their recoveries. In order to prevent the factoring transactions from undermining the policy objectives of the structured settlement, Congress passed HR2884 which resulted in Internal Revenue Service 5891 requiring all structured settlement factoring transactions be approved by a state court. The Structured Settlement Protection Act imposes a 40% excise tax on the net sale of a structured settlement that does not meet the requirements of the state and federal statutes. All states with the exception of Vermont, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have passed legislation regulating the buying and selling of structured settlements. Over the next five posts, we will be discussing five steps that are essential before you commit to sell a portion or all of your structured settlement.
- Do your due diligence
- Seek legal advice
- Seek financial advice
- Decide what you are going to sell
- Seek the best offer
If you need help selling your structured settlement, annuity or lottery payments,
contact us today. We are here to answer your questions and help you obtain the
highest possible price for your payments.
Tags: cash for structured settlement, sell structured settlement, structured settlement process, structured settlements
