In 1982 Congress enacted the Periodic Settlement Act which adopted certain rules to encourage the use of structured settlements to resolve medical malpractice and serious personal injury cases. Under a structured settlement, an injury victim does not receive compensation for his or he injuries in one lump sum. Instead, the injured party will receive periodic payments which will be made over an agreed upon period of time.
The major benefit of a structured settlement is that the full amount of the structured payments are tax free to the injured party. If a lump sum payment was to be received by an injured party all earnings made upon that lump sum are usually fully taxable. Because a structured settlement is a voluntary agreement made by the injured party, payments can be tailored to meet the needs and requirements of that party in determining the times that the payments will be received.
In a structured settlement agreement, in most cases, the defendant (usually an insurance company) agrees to find a type of investment vehicle that will provide for a future stream of income. The preferred way of funding is thought an annuity usually purchased through a life insurance company.
It is recommended that you at least investigate a structure settlement agreement, if at all possible, to see if that choice provides you with an attractive alternative to a lump sum payment. Naturally, this decision should be discussed at length with your attorney and any other professionals who can properly assist you in this decision.
Attorney Richard Hastings, for the past two and one half decades, has been helping injured clients and families collect millions of dollars in cases ranging from motor vehicle accidents to wrongful death, to medical malpractice. He is the founder of Selectcounsel, LLC, a free service that helps you find one of the best lawyers in your area and is the author of the books "How To Find A Great Lawyer" and "Understanding And Improving The Value Of Your Personal Injury Case."
Please visit http://www.SelectCounsel.com to see how they can find you one of the best lawyers in your area for your serious injury or medical malpractice case.
Selectcounsel, LLC is a FREE national service that helps people with serious personal injury and medical malpractice cases find one of the best lawyers in their area to represent them. The lawyers we recommend are independently rated by attorneys and judges as being among the very best in their field of practice. Visit us at http://selectcounsel.com/ to see how we can help you find one of the best lawyers for your case.
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