Future Financial Planning for People with Disabilities - Part 3

The National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities (NLCDD) at the University of Delaware has published a new ...

Future Financial Planning for People with Disabilities – Part 2

A prior Independent Life article (Part 1) summarizes key elements of a new National Study (Study) titled “Future Financial ...

Future Financial Planning for People with Disabilities – Part 1

One of the highlights of the recent Stetson 2021 National Conference on Special Needs Planning and Special Needs Trusts was a ...

Factoring Problems and Solutions – Part 2

When the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) supported enactment of IRC Section 5891 as part of the Victims ...

Factoring Problems and Solutions – Part 1

The National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA), of which this writer is a member, has scheduled a virtual 2021 Fall ...

Periodic Payments After Settlement

When Congress passed the Periodic Payment Act of 1982, the stated intent was to provide a secure and steady flow of periodic ...

Anti-Assignment Language

Almost all structured settlements are completed on a basis that qualifies future payments for tax-free treatment under I.R.C. § ...

The Patel Memo - Twenty Years Later

Daniel Anders, President of the National MSP Network (NMSP) sent a newsletter last week alerting this writer and other NMSP ...

Expanding ABLE Through Collaboration

Last week, the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) sponsored its 2021 Treasury Management Training Symposium, which ...

CMS WCMSA Reference Guide Version 3.3

When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the most recent Version 3.3 of its Workers Compensation ...

Book Review: Investing is Your Superpower

“We can’t become what we need to by remaining what we are.” – Oprah Winfrey

A Review of the NSSTA 2021 Annual Conference

NSSTA President Michael Goodman opened the 2021 National Structured Settlement Trade Association Conference, hosted virtually May ...

Pre-NSSTA Structured Settlement History

Congratulations to the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) which will be celebrating its 35th Anniversary as ...

Soldiers vs. Scouts: The NSSTA 2021 Annual Conference

In her new book titled “The Scout Mindset”, author Julia Galef, co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, utilizes a ...

Settlement Planning

Let's Talk About: Judges, Mediators and Settlement Planning

Judges and mediators play important, but distinctive, roles in settlement planning. So it may have surprised some attendees that ...

Let's Talk About: A Definition for Settlement Planning

If you market yourself as a “settlement planner”, or even consider yourself a “settlement planner”, how do you define “settlement ...

Knowledge Network

Let's Talk About: Approved Lists, Rated Age and Beneficiary Protection

During its three-day 2021 Annual Conference in late February, the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) hosted 20 separate virtual ...

Let's Talk About: Privacy of Medical Records and Personal Data

During a discussion of “Life Company Basics” featured as part of the recent Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) virtual 2021 ...

Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments Release 69

Because settlements represent voluntary agreements, neither plaintiffs nor defendants can be forced to participate in a ...

Industry News

Let's Talk About: Adding Value & Protecting an Attorney's Practice

One of the more intriguing panel discussions scheduled later this week during the Society of Settlement Planners’ (SSP) 2021 ...

Industry News

Let's Talk About: Structuring Attorney Fees

Plaintiff attorneys are continuing to gain an understanding of the benefits of structuring their attorney fees, a unique tool, ...

Industry News

Let's Talk About Factoring

Continuing a series of articles previewing selected topics at the upcoming Society of Settlement Planners’ (SSP’s) virtual 2021 ...

Industry News

Let's Talk About: Suitability and Settlement Planning

The Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) will host its virtual 2021 Annual Conference for February 23-25 and has already ...

Industry News

New Blog Series: Let's Talk About...

Conference season, albeit virtual, has officially kicked off with both the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) and the National ...

Knowledge Network

Society of Actuaries Structured Settlement Mortality Studies

Every structured settlement professional is familiar with the term “substandard age rating” as well as the important role more ...

Legs & Regs

Re-cycled Structured Settlement Payment Rights

Historically, most investors who purchase structured settlement payment rights from factoring companies are sophisticated ...

Non-Qualified

Wrongfully Incarcerated Individuals

The number of exonerations for wrongfully incarcerated individuals has increased for the third year in a row, according to The ...

Case Study

Case Study: Catastrophic Injury

A mother and her five-year-old son were in a car accident in 2018 and both suffered extensive injuries.

ABLE Accounts

Comparing the Advantages: ABLE Accounts vs. Special Needs Trusts

The COVID-19 pandemic and near zero long term Treasury rates have required both structured settlement professionals and ...

Case Study

Case Study: Medicare Set-Asides

A self-insured municipality referred a case involving a 54-year old police officer who sustained catastrophic injuries attempting ...

Podcast

Settlement Nation Episode 1: Michael Upchurch

The Independent Life team is excited to introduce our new podcast, Settlement Nation! In our inaugural episode, co-host, Chris ...

Knowledge Network

ABLE Accounts + Structured Settlements, Now a Possibility?

Since The ABLE Act created IRC 529A in 2014, ABLE accounts have become popular financial and settlement planning tools for ...