Disability Law

Tools for Strategic Thinking

Posted on March 30, 2011
Both the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) have announced agendas for their 2011 annual meetings. Faced with declining structured settlement annuity sales and significant and continuing market changes, it is disappointing, but...

Health Care Reform

Posted on March 28, 2011
Health care reform consists of two laws enacted in March of 2010 (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010) which will have a profound impact on people with disabilities. While...

MSAs and Liability Cases

Posted on March 27, 2011
Although no statutory or regulatory authority requires Medicare set-aside arrangements (MSAs) in third party liability settlements, confusion continues to exist as to whether and when MSAs are necessary and/or appropriate for such cases. Although their objectives and target audiences are...

ASNP 2011 Annual Meeting

Posted on March 17, 2011
The Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP) hosted its Fifth Annual Conference March 11-12, 2011 in San Francisco. Co-chaired by Kevin Urbatsch and Michael Gilfix, the 2011 ASNP conference highlighted a growing knowledge gap between traditional structured settlement consultants (many...

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Wentworth and Peachtree to Merge

Posted on March 14, 2011
The owners of J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Settlement Funding, the two largest purchasers of structured settlement payment rights, have agreed to merge the two companies according to a March 10, 2011 article published by "The Deal Pipeline". According to the...

Executive Life of New York - 2

Posted on March 12, 2011
A New York State Supreme Court Judge has ordered the Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department to present the Court with a proposed order and plan of liquidation for Executive Life Insurance Company of New York (ELNY) on...

JCT Structured Settlement Estimate

Posted on February 06, 2011
The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has released its Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014 (JCT Report) and the estimated tax revenue loss for structured settlements may surprise many structured settlement and settlement planning stakeholders...

Tax Penalty Imposed on Former Plaintiff

Posted on February 05, 2011
Greenberg v. Commissioner (T.C. 2011-18), a January 24, 2011 Tax Court decision, highlights the risks and potential penalties for improperly reporting the tax consequences of a settlement and provides a warning for advisers, including structured settlement and settlement planning consultants,...

Business Standards and Practices - 4

Posted on January 31, 2011
In a decision filed January 26, 2011 (Ceron v. 321 Henderson Receivables), a California Court of Appeals has unanimously affirmed one portion of a California Superior Court judgment sustaining demurrers by J.G. Wentworth and its affiliates (J.G. Wentworth) to purported...

David Higgins' Tax Proposal

Posted on January 24, 2011
David Higgins, of Higgins Settlement Law, LLP, submitted a legislative recommendation on January 11, 2011 proposing a change to how plaintiffs enter into structured settlements. Higgins is the author of the Periodic Payments Settlement Act of 1982 and served as...

Business Standards and Practices - 3

Posted on January 17, 2011
This S2KM blog post summarizes the emerging business and professional models that are competing with the traditional structured settlement models. It continues S2KM's series analyzing structured settlement business standards and practices. Business Standards and Practices-1 highlights historical events that helped...

Business Standards and Practices - 2

Posted on January 11, 2011
A prior S2KM blog post (Business Standards and Practices-1) asserted that structured settlement business standards and practices must improve before the industry can achieve its public policy and revenue potential. The prior post also highlighted historical events that help explain...

Business Standards and Practices - 1

Posted on January 09, 2011
For the structured settlement industry to achieve its public policy and revenue potential, business standards and practices must improve. This blog post, which begins a new S2KM series, highlights historical developments which help define the business standards and practices of...

Structured Settlements in 2010 - 2

Posted on December 30, 2010
Beginning in 2004, S2KM has utilized this blog ("Beyond Structured Settlements") and related web 2.0 publications to report and analyze strategic developments impacting the structured settlement and special needs settlement planning (aka settlement consulting) industries...

Spencer v. Hartford - 12

Posted on December 14, 2010
Distribution checks from the Spencer v. Hartford class action lawsuit settlement were mailed to plaintiffs on December 9, 2010. For additional information, see: The Risk Law Firm website for Hartford Class Action Distribution Calculations; and The Hartford Structured Settlement Class...

NSSTA and NASP 2010 Educational Conferences - 4

Posted on November 13, 2010
The National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP) just raised the standard for structured settlement strategic analysis during its 2010 educational conference in Las Vegas. Previous standard: the 2008 Structured Settlement Thought Leadership Conference...

NSSTA and NASP 2010 Educational Conferences - 3

Posted on November 09, 2010
"Protect and Preserve" or "Improve and Grow". These polar-opposite imperatives for the structured settlement industry represent S2KM's two strategic lenses for reporting and analyzing simultaneous educational programs this week in Las Vegas sponsored by the National Structured Settlement Trade Association...

NSSTA and NASP 2010 Educational Conferences - 2

Posted on November 07, 2010
The National Structured Settlement Trade Association ( NSSTA ) and the National Association of Settlement Purchasers ( NASP ) have separately announced agendas and speakers for their 2010 educational conferences which are scheduled concurrently next week (November 10-12, 2010) in...

Spencer v. Hartford - 11

Posted on November 03, 2010
S2KM continues to monitor and report Spencer v. Hartford structured settlement class action lawsuit and settlement developments. For complete S2KM reporting, see the structured settlement wiki. Potential class action settlement recipients are requesting information about this class action lawsuit...

NSSTA and NASP 2010 Educational Conferences -1

Posted on October 27, 2010
There are three leading structured settlement professional associations: NSSTA (The National Structured Settlement Trade Association) SSP (The Society of Settlement Planners) NASP (National Association of Settlement Purchasers) And several affiliated professional structured settlement stakeholder associations...

NAMSAP 2010 Annual Meeting

Posted on October 01, 2010
The National Alliance of Medicare-Set Aside Professionals (NAMSAP) hosted its Sixth Annual Meeting and Educational Conference in Arlington, Virginia on September 30-October 1, 2010. The meeting demonstrated NAMSAP's expanding leadership role within both the special needs settlement planning and structured...

Using Medical Costs to Lower Taxes on Emotional Distress Damages

Posted on September 23, 2010
Jeremy Babener, author of previous legal articles about structured settlements and taxation of personal injury damages, has published a new article titled "Maximizing the Medical Care Exception to the Tax on Emotional Distress Damages" in the September issue of Practical...

S2P2J Release 48

Posted on September 13, 2010
Publisher Incisive Media has announced October 21, 2010 as the distribution date for Release 48 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J). First published in 1986, S2P2J is co-authored and updated semi-annually by Daniel W. Hindert, Joseph J...

Maximizing the Medical Expense Deduction

Posted on August 30, 2010
Jeremy Babener, author of previous articles on structured settlement taxation, has published Taking Medical Expense Deductions Before and After a Personal Injury Suit in the August issue of Practical Tax Strategies. The article is available at his web site, www...

Spencer v. Hartford - 10

Posted on June 08, 2010
United States District Judge Janet C. Hall has approved a $72.5 million preliminary settlement of the Spencer v. Hartford structured settlement class action lawsuit impacting thousands of persons who received Hartford Insurance structured settlements from January 1, 1997 to June...

Spencer v. Hartford - 9

Posted on May 22, 2010
If you are re-thinking structured settlement business practices in the context of the Spencer v. Hartford class action lawsuit and announced proposed settlement, a recent paper ("Structured Settlements and Single Claimant Qualified Settlement Funds: Regulating in Accordance with Structured Settlement...

Spencer v. Hartford - 7

Posted on May 19, 2010
What are the critical questions for defendants (and your insurers and your re-insurers and your attorneys) resulting from the proposed settlement of the Spencer v. Hartford class action lawsuit - assuming YOU, as a defendant, participate in funding structured settlements?...

Spencer v. Hartford - 8

Posted on May 19, 2010
If YOU are a defendant (or insure or represent defendants), how do YOU save money using structured settlements - post Spencer v. Hartford? What are your structured settlement risks - if you don't fully disclose your structured settlement business practices?...

Spencer v. Hartford - 6

Posted on May 17, 2010
Why and when should defendants, and/or their insurance companies and/or their reinsurance companies, ever agree to fund a structured settlement using either a "buy and hold" strategy or an "IRC section 130 qualified assignment" - as opposed to paying cash...

SSP and NSSTA 2010 Annual Meetings - 9

Posted on May 16, 2010
The Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) and the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) should be congratulated for excellent 2010 annual meetings - especially immediate past-Presidents Joseph Tombs and Daniel Durbin, S2KM's complete coverage of the SSP and NSSTA 2010...

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