Originally, a structured settlement referred to an immediate annuity purchased by the defendant as a settlement for the benefit of the plaintiff in a court action.
If you slipped and fell and sued the grocery store where you fell, you would be the plaintiff and they would be the defendant. If you won, or if they decided to settle, you might mutually agree to a structured settlement. The grocery store would go to an insurance company and buy an immediate annuity with you as the beneficiary.
You would immediately begin to receive a series of payments (an immediate annuity) that would last for some period such as the remainder of your life.
More broadly, structured settlements refer to any immediate annuity that you might receive such as from winning at lotto or some other lottery, viatical settlements etc. I will address each of these in coming days.
» This Week We Know More About... from Know More Media
This week, on the Know More Media network, we know more about a great book about setting goals and a New Year's Resolution to develop a corporate blogging policy to share with those Fortune 500 companies that aren't yet blogging. James ... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 6, 2006 9:37 PM | Permalink to Trackback