Structured Settlements
What your future payments are really worth, how selling works, and how to read past the discount rates and fees that quietly cost sellers the most.
Structured settlement annuity companies: who issues the annuity and why it matters
Your payments come from a life insurer you probably did not choose. Here is how that carrier gets selected, what the tax code requires of it, and how to check it.
Structured settlements and divorce: how periodic payments get classified and divided
A divorce court can decide a structured settlement is partly marital property and still be unable to split the payments. Those are two separate questions.
Settlement protection trust: what it does and when it fits
A settlement protection trust holds injury settlement money for someone who is not on means-tested benefits, adding management and oversight without a Medicaid payback.
Are Lawsuit Settlements Taxable? How the IRS Splits a Recovery
Whether settlement money is taxed depends on what it replaces, and one recovery can contain tax-free, taxable and wage components at the same time.
Medicare set aside: what an MSA is and how the money must be spent
A Medicare set aside ring-fences part of a settlement for future injury-related care. Here is how the allocation is decided, funded, and administered.
Structured settlements and debt collectors: what creditors can and cannot reach
Future structured settlement payments are hard for a creditor to seize, but the protection is state-specific and often ends once money reaches your bank account.
What happens if the insurance company behind your structured settlement fails
Structured settlement payments are not FDIC-insured. Here is who actually owes you the money, what state guaranty associations cover, and what the limits are.
Structured Settlement Cash Advance: What the Word Advance Hides
A cash advance sounds like a short-term loan you pay back. Against a structured settlement, it usually is not one. Here is what you are actually signing.
The Structured Settlement Transfer Process: How a Sale Works Step by Step
Selling structured settlement payments is a court-supervised transfer, not a simple sale. Here is the whole process from first quote to funded payment.
Structured Settlement and Special Needs Trust: Keeping Benefits Intact
A settlement can accidentally disqualify a disabled claimant from SSI and Medicaid. Here is how a special needs trust and a structured settlement work together.
Qualified Assignment in a Structured Settlement: How IRC §130 Makes It Work
A qualified assignment is the legal step that lets a defendant hand off future settlement payments while keeping them tax-free. Here is how IRC §130 works.
Attorney Fee Structured Settlement: How Lawyers Defer Contingent Fees
A structured attorney fee lets a contingent-fee lawyer spread a large fee over future years and defer the tax. Here is how the arrangement actually works.
Structured Settlement Rated Age: Why a Shorter Life Expectancy Raises Your Payments
A rated age is an insurer's estimate that an injury has shortened life expectancy. On a lifetime structured settlement it can lift each monthly payment.
Structured Settlement Partial Sale: Selling Some Payments, Not All
A partial sale lets you raise a lump sum from part of your structured settlement while keeping the rest of your future income. Here is how it works.
Structured Settlement Discount Rate: The Number That Sets Your Offer
The discount rate is the single biggest lever in any structured settlement sale. Here is how it works, why it dwarfs every other factor, and what the court sees.
Structured Settlement Examples: How Payment Schedules Are Designed
Worked examples of how structured settlement payments are laid out — level income, step-ups, future lump sums, and life-contingent designs.
Buying a Structured Settlement: How the Purchase Side Actually Works
Investors can buy the rights to someone else's future structured settlement payments at a discount. Here is how the purchase works, and its real risks.
Non-Qualified Structured Settlement: How It Works and When It Is Used
A non-qualified structured settlement spreads taxable settlement money over future years. Here is how the structure works and where the tax line falls.
Workers' Comp Structured Settlement: How It Works and the Medicare Trap
A workers' comp structured settlement spreads your award into scheduled payments. The part that catches people out is Medicare's set-aside rule.
Structured Settlement Beneficiary: What Happens to Payments After Death
Whether structured settlement payments continue after the recipient dies depends on the payment type and the named beneficiary. Here is how it works.
Structured Settlement Annuity Rates: How They Are Set and What Moves Them
Structured settlement annuity rates are not a single advertised number. Here is how insurers price them and which factors raise or lower your payments.
Structured Settlement Protection Act: The Law That Governs Selling Payments
A Structured Settlement Protection Act is the state law that requires court approval before anyone can sell future settlement payments. Here is how it works.
Structured Settlements for Minors: How a Child's Injury Award Is Protected
When a child wins an injury settlement, the law protects the money until adulthood. Here is how court approval, guardians, and the annuity work.
Structured Settlement Payout Options: How the Payment Stream Is Designed
Structured settlements can pay monthly income, future lump sums, lifetime payments, or a mix. Here is how each payout option is built and what it means.
Selling Annuity Payments: How the Process Works and What It Costs
How a factoring company turns future annuity payments into a lump sum, the discount that comes out of it, and when court approval is required.
Structured Settlement Court Approval: How the Process Actually Works
You cannot sell structured settlement payments without a judge's approval. Here is what the court reviews, why it exists, and how the hearing works.
What Does a Structured Settlement Broker Do?
A structured settlement broker designs the payment plan at the time a case settles. Here is the role, how they are paid, and how it differs from a buyer.
Structured Settlement vs Lump Sum: How to Weigh the Two
A structured settlement pays you over time; a lump sum pays you all at once. The choice changes your taxes, your risk, and your access to the money.
Are Structured Settlements Taxable? What the IRS Rules Say
Structured settlement payments for physical injury are usually federal income tax-free, but several exceptions and a key selling rule change the answer.
Structured Settlement Loan: Why It Usually Isn't a Loan at All
A structured settlement loan usually isn't a loan. Here's what you're really being offered, why the distinction costs money, and how to read the deal.
What Is a Structured Settlement? How the Payments Work
A plain-English guide to how structured settlements pay out over time, who funds them, and how they are usually taxed.
Selling Your Structured Settlement: Process, Pros, and Pitfalls
What it really means to sell my structured settlement, how court approval works, why the discount rate matters most, and how to avoid a bad deal.
How Much Is My Structured Settlement Worth?
Your structured settlement is worth its present value, not the total of future payments. Here is how the discount rate decides your real offer.
Structured Settlement Annuity: How It Differs From a Regular Annuity
A structured settlement annuity funds court-ordered injury payments, is bought on your behalf, and works very differently from one you buy yourself.
How to Compare Structured Settlement Companies Without Getting Burned
A practical framework for comparing structured settlement companies on rate, fees, court costs, and complaint history before you sell a single payment.