Disability Law

S2P2J Release 44

By Patrick Hindert

Release 44 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J) will be available in December 2008.

Since S2P2J was first published in 1986, the authors have attempted to provide balanced and comprehensive coverage of structured settlement industry developments from a legal perspective.

S2P2J's co-authors, Daniel Hindert, Joseph Jules Dehner and Patrick Hindert have each studied and written about structured settlements since the 1970s.

S2P2J's authors thank and acknowledge information and insights they continue to receive from many structured settlement trade associations and industry knowledge leaders. Special thanks to the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) Legal, Government Benefits and Certification Committees; and, more recently, to the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP). The authors appreciate and welcome your continuing contributions to S2P2J.

For S2KM reports about NSSTA, SSP and other professional structured settlement stakeholder associations, see S2KM's structured settlement wiki.

Since 2001, the authors have added two new chapters to S2P2J:

• Chapter 15: "Government Benefits and Structured Settlements"; and
• Chapter 16: "Transfers of Structured Settlement Payment Rights".

These new S2P2J chapters capture, organize and explain some of the strategic changes re-defining traditional (pre-2001) structured settlements. Release 44 features updates for both chapters.

S2P2J Release 44 also features new and updated sections titled:

• Section 3.07A: "Settlement Trusts"; and
• Section 6.02: "Structured Settlement Consultants".

All of these new chapters and sections re-enforce the growing "settlement planning" context for structured settlements.

The emerging profession of settlement planning:

• Increases the importance and complexity of structured settlements;
• Expands the knowledge requirements for structured settlement professionals;
• Encompasses non-qualified assignments and the secondary structured settlement market; and
• Integrates structured settlement annuities with government benefits, settlement trusts and custodial accounts.

S2P2J Release 44 updates structured settlement and settlement planning professionals about these continuing industry changes and developments. In addition to the new chapters and sections highlighted above, S2P2J Release 44 features updated commentary for:

• Non-qualified assignments;
• Punitive vs. compensatory tax allocations;
• The Murphy case;
• Frank Johns' proposed RFP for QSFs;
• The Medicare, Medicaid & SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA);
• New CMS rules for WCMSA annuities;
• The AIG bailout;
• The Fresno County factoring cases.

To order your updated copy of S2P2J, see this link. NSSTA members and SSP members receive purchasing discounts for S2P2J.

Full post as published by Beyond Structured Settlements on November 06, 2008 (boomark / email).