Colonial pays cash for structured settlements!
Georgia statues
regarding Structured Settlements.
|
This state statute overseeing the
sale of structured settlement payments and
the buying of annuities is not the Model
Act but should comply with Federal Law if
a declaratory judgment is obtained
(Colonial's interpretation)
|
CODE OF GEORGIA
TITLE 51. TORTS
CHAPTER 12. DAMAGES
ARTICLE 4. DAMAGES IN TORT ACTIONS
|
 |
|
|
Copyright ©2002 by The State of Georgia. All rights
reserved.
Statutes current through 2002 Regular Session of the
General Assembly
51-12-70 Definitions.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) "Administrator" means the administrator of the
"Fair Business Practices Act of 1975" appointed pursuant
to subsection (a) of Code Section 10-1-395 or his or
her designee.
(2) "Annuity issuer" means an insurer that has issued
an insurance contract used to fund periodic payments
under a structured settlement.
(3) "Applicable law" means:
(A) The federal laws
of the United States;
(B) The laws of this
state, including principles of equity applied in the
courts of this state; and
(C) The laws of any other
jurisdiction:
(i)
Which is the domicile of the payee or any other interested
party;
(ii)
Under whose laws a structured settlement agreement was
approved by a court or responsible
administrative authority; or
(iii)
In whose courts a settled claim was pending when the
parties entered into a structured
settlement agreement.
(4) "Discounted present value" means the fair present
value of future payments, as determined by discounting
such payments to the present using the most recently
published applicable federal rate for determining the
present value of an annuity, as issued by the United
States Internal Revenue Service.
(5) "Interested parties" means, with respect to any
structured settlement agreement, the payee, any beneficiary
designated under the annuity contract to receive payments
following the payee's death, the annuity issuer, the
structured settlement obligor, and any other party that
has continuing rights or obligations under such structured
settlement.
(6) "Payee" means an individual who is receiving tax-free
damage payments under a structured settlement and
proposes to make a transfer of payment rights thereunder.
(7) "Qualified assignment agreement" means an agreement
providing for a qualified assignment within the meaning
of Section 130 of the United States Internal Revenue
Code, United States Code Title 26.
(8) "Settled claim" means the original tort claim or
workers' compensation claim resolved by a structured
settlement.
(9) "Structured settlement" means an arrangement for
periodic payment of damages for personal injuries
established by settlement or judgment in resolution
of a tort claim or for periodic payments in settlement
of a
workers' compensation claim.
(10) "Structured settlement agreement" means the agreement,
judgment, stipulation, or release embodying the
terms of a structured settlement, including the rights
of the payee to receive periodic payments.
(11) "Structured settlement obligor" means, with respect
to any structured settlement, the party that has the
continuing periodic payment obligation to the payee
under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified
assignment agreement.
(12) "Structured settlement payment rights" means rights
to receive periodic payments (including lump sum payments)
under a structured settlement, whether from the settlement
obligor or the annuity issuer, where:
(A) The payee or any
other interested party is domiciled in this state;
(B) The structured settlement
agreement was approved by a court or responsible administrative
authority in this
state; or
(C) The settled claim
was pending before the courts of this state when the
parties entered into the structured
settlement agreement.
(13) "Terms of the structured settlement" includes,
with respect to any structured settlement, the terms
of the
structured settlement agreement, the annuity contract,
any qualified assignment agreement, and any order or
approval
of any court or responsible administrative authority
or other government authority authorizing or approving
such
structured settlement.
(14) "Transfer" means any sale, assignment, pledge,
hypothecation, or other form of alienation or encumbrance
made
by a payee for consideration, but does not include:
(A) Any transaction which is expressly provided for
in the structured settlement agreement and is executed
within
30 days after execution of the structured settlement
agreement; or
(B) Any testamentary disposition by the payee.
(15) "Transfer agreement" means the agreement providing
for the transfer of structured settlement payment rights
from a payee to a transferee.
51-12-71 Prerequisites for transfer of structured settlement
payment rights.
No direct or indirect transfer of structured settlement
payment rights shall be effective and no structured
settlement
obligor or annuity issuer shall be required to make
any payment directly or indirectly to any transferee
of structured
settlement payment rights unless:
(1) The transfer complies with the requirements of
this article and will not contravene other applicable
law;
(2) Not less than ten days prior to the date on which
the transfer agreement is executed in writing, the transferee
has
provided to the payee an informational pamphlet relating
to transfers of structured settlements as provided for
in
subsection (b) of Code Section 51-12-73, when available,
and a separate disclosure statement in bold type, no
smaller than 14 points, setting forth:
(A) The amounts and due
dates of the structured settlement payments to be transferred;
(B) The aggregate amount
of such payments;
(C) The discounted present
value of such payments, together with the discount rate
used in determining such
discounted present value;
(D) The gross amount
payable to the payee in exchange for such payments;
(E) An itemized listing
of all brokers' commissions, service charges, application
fees, processing fees, closing
costs, filing fees, administrative fees, legal fees,
notary fees and other commissions, fees, costs, expenses,
and charges payable by the payee or deductible from
the gross amount otherwise payable to the payee;
(F) The net amount payable
to the payee after deduction of all commissions, fees,
costs, expenses, and
charges
described in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph;
(G) The quotient (expressed
as a percentage) obtained by dividing the net payment
amount by the discounted
present value of the payments; and
(H) The amount of any
penalty and the aggregate amount of any liquidated damages
(inclusive of penalties)
payable by the payee in the event of any breach of the
transfer agreement by the payee;
(3) Written notice at least two business days prior
to the effective execution of the transfer agreement
has been
provided by the transferee to the annuity issuer and
the structured settlement obligor by certified mail
or statutory
overnight delivery, postage prepaid; and
(4) The transferee has given written notice of the
transferee's name, address, and taxpayer identification
number
to the annuity issuer and the structured settlement
obligor.
Continue to Part 2 >> |
NEWS RELEASE
