HOW CAN I SELL A STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT?

Let’s suppose you’ve been awarded damages based on a structured settlement plan (In due course, you’ll get to know how you could be a seller of structured  settlement without having to be a victim of an infringement first. So no harm is meant here). Since you wish to have a lump sum rather than the periodic ones, you need to find someone who is willing to buy the plan from you.

How to sell a structured settlement starts with how to find a willing buyer. Where are they and how can you find them? The truth is that there are hundreds and thousands of investors in the structured settlement market similar to what we have in real estate, money market and foreign exchange (forex). These investors are ready buyers of your structured settlement. There are also non-investor buyers. These people are usually looking for a secure periodic future earning. To sell a structured settlement therefore, simply watch out for any of the two groups mentioned: Investor buyers or non-investor buyers.

When you are on a business directory, on a classified page or such other online media, always watch out for such lines as ‘we buy structured settlement’, ‘Sell structured settlement in Chicago’ and more. Those might be investors who are more than ready to buy your structured settlement from you. So you contact them using their contact details. Ensure that you involve your attorney all the time.

Investor buyers are the snappiest way to get a structured settlement plan sold. But you should expect to sell it at a relatively low price since the investors are out to make profits. So if you are out to get every penny due to you, you might consider selling to non-investor buyers. There could be other ways to get non-investor buyers, but the easiest should be to hang around the office of an investor buyers (you already know how to get them). You could have handbills advertising your ware handy. Anyone who walks in and out of the office has 50% chances of being either a prospective buyer or seller. So, hand your bills to them until you get someone ready to strike a deal with you.

WHY ALL THE HYPE ABOUT STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT?

The first time you are acquainted with the subject of structured settlement, you usually wonder what the hype is all about. First of all, you notice that structured settlement attorneys pay exceedingly high amounts for adverts as revealed using keyword research tools (such as Google Adword Keyword Tool). Then, you ask, ‘why are they willing to pay so much?’ That of course implies that they are paid huge sums themselves. This in turn implies that their clients too have good money to spend. So why is it that every client of a structured settlement attorney would usually have good money to spend? The answer can be traced to nowhere else but their source.

In recent times in common law countries, structured settlement has almost become synonymous with cancer of the mesothelium, more technically known as Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma itself has been associated with asbestos ingestion. In fact, Mesothelioma is sometimes refered to as Asbestosis. Workers in asbestos companies are therefore said to be susceptible to Mesothelioma. When such workers are diagnosed with Mesothelioma, they expectedly would sue the offending company for damages. Because of the huge damage Mesothelioma involves on the part of its victims, and the fact that the defendants in Mesothelioma lawsuits are usually big stable companies with the financial wherewithal to pay the damages or risk the repercussion, the recipients are not only sure of being awarded colossal amounts, they are also certain that they will eventually get paid. Now, in common law countries, such huge damages are awarded to be paid as structured settlement (as installments rather than lump sum, that is).

Now, because Mesothelioma patients usually believe they will die long before the course of installment payment runs out (usually put in several decades or even centuries), they would want to have it in lump sum so they can use the money as they wish while they are still alife (many of them never get to die as expected though). Besides, they want to avoid a case whereby their next-of-kins would be brawled in legal battles arising from the structured settlement due to their expected demise. This is why they would want to sell the settlement for a lump sum. While these victims are willing to sell their settlement for a lump sum, there are people who are in need of a secure periodic earning – something like a pension – since they expect to live for considerable years.

The above scenario has given rise to a situation that is akin to money market investing, if only more secure. It is considered more secure because it is not subject to all the vagaries of the economy such as melt-down, bears, government policies and more. The value can appreciate too. You expect any niche that involves money – and huge money at that – to become a beehive, since almost everyone want to make more money.

The use of Mesothelioma in this essay is only exemplary. The fact is that damages huge enough to be put into structured settlement are usually ones in which it is felt that the said victims have incurred a terminal situation. Only such a situation is serious enough to deserve an amount that can be awarded as structured settlement. And there are far more such cases than we imagine.

Where Can I Get Help Going for A Structured Settlement?

Structured settlement questions generally fall within two broad jurisdictions namely, law and finance. So before you go for a structured settlement, I’d advise you to consult an attorney, a tax expert and/or an accountant, preferably, a certified public accountant. Especially, the expert you consult must also have a track record in handling structured settlements.

The best place to start is any of the search engines. If you are in New York or Washington for example, you could search for such keywords as ‘structured settlement attorney in New York, Washington, etc’. You can also add your own discretion. What I mean is that you use the search engine to get the available options while you use your discretion to choose from the available options.

How Can I Understand Structured Settlement As A Total Novice?

Aside the legal and accounting jargon associated with structured settlement questions, this article and, in fact this blog, is an extremely simple way to understand it: Let's imagine you've filed a lawsuit against an asbestos company after you've been diagnosed with mesothelioma - that is, cancer of the mesothelium (mesothelioma is widely associated with asbestos ingestion). Don't get over hyped about this, we are only SUPPOSING. Then, let's suppose you won the case or the asbestos manufacturer decides to settle with you out of court. That would involve paying you a certain amount as damages (let's say $10,000,000). Ordinarily, this should be paid to you as a lump sum. But a practice that has become popular is to pay you an installment amount periodically. This installment payment will usually be paid according to a certain structure or a complex arrangement of different structures (if you like, call it a plan). It could be that the asbestos company would be paying you say $1000 every week or $5000 every month or $50,000 every year. Whatever it may be, the term 'structure' is used to apply to it. Well, you are already being settled according to a structure. Are you still asking, 'what is structured settlement?' That's it.

Structured settlement has become a real area of business and finance as well as for countless and complex legal and accounting practices. Creating a particular plan for a deal is the work of attorneys, accountants, tax and other financial experts. This is generally termed 'structuring'. A claimant or the receiver of a structured settlement can decide to sell it for a lump sum. Thus it becomes a commercial world where you see ads like 'sell or buy structured settlements'. Such an offer is generally called a product just like any other thing on sale, thus we talk of 'structured product' and 'structured credit' as well as 'structured investment'.

The payment of structured settlement usually involves the payer buying an annuity from an annuity company. This is a means of placing a value on the structures agreed on. Thus, an entire organizational structure turns out to arise from structured settlement issues. This is why it has become a major area of human endeavor.

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