MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Judiciary A

By: Representative Blackmon

AN ACT TO BE ENTITLED THE STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT PROTECTION ACT; TO ENACT SAFEGUARDS FOR THE TRANSFER OF STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT PAYMENT RIGHTS; TO REQUIRE CHANCERY COURT REVIEW; TO ENACT DEFINITIONS; TO PROVIDE FOR JURISDICTION UNDER THE ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Conditions to transfers 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 the transfer has been authorized in advance in a final order of a chancery court of competent jurisdiction, based on express findings by such chancery court that:

(a) The transfer complies with the requirements of this act and will not contravene other applicable law.

(b) Not less than ten (10) days prior to the date on which the payee first incurred any obligation with respect to the transfer, the transferee has provided to the payee a disclosure statement in bold type, no smaller than fourteen (14) points, setting forth:

(i) The amounts and due dates of the structured settlement payments to be transferred;

(ii) The aggregate amount of such payments;

(iii) The discounted present value of such payments, together with the discount rate used in determining such discounted present value;

(iv) The gross amount payable to the payee in exchange for such payments;

(v) 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;

(vi) The net amount payable to the payee after deduction of all commissions, fees, costs, expenses and charges described in subparagraph (v) of this paragraph;

(vii) The quotient (expressed as a percentage) obtained by dividing the net payment amount by the discounted present value of the payments; and

(viii) 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;

(c) The payee has established that the transfer is necessary to enable the payee, the payee's dependents, or both, to avoid imminent financial hardship, and the transfer should not be expected to subject the payee, the payee's dependents, or both, to undue financial hardship in the future.

(d) The payee has received independent professional advice regarding the legal, tax and financial implications of the transfer.

(e) If the transfer would contravene the terms of the structured settlement:

(i) The transfer has been expressly approved in writing by each interested party including the annuity issuer and the structured settlement obligor; and

(ii) Signed originals of all approvals required under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph have been filed with the court from which authorization of the transfer is sought under this act, and originals or copies have been furnished to all interested parties;

(f) 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 and has filed a copy of such notice with the court; and

(g) The transferee has paid or will pay for all costs incurred in requesting approval of the transfer.

SECTION 2. Definitions.

For purposes of this act:

(a) "Annuity issuer" means an insurer that has issued an insurance contract used to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement.

(b) "Applicable law" means:

(i) The federal laws of the United States;

(ii) The laws of this state, including principles of equity applied in the courts of this state; and

(iii) The laws of any other jurisdiction:

A. Which is the domicile of the payee or any other interested party;

B. Under whose laws a structured settlement agreement was approved by a court or responsible administrative authority; or

C. In whose courts a settled claim was pending when the parties entered into a structured settlement agreement;

(c) "Dependents" include a payee's spouse and minor children and all other family members and other persons for whom the payee is legally obligated to provide support, including alimony.

(d) "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.

(e) "Independent professional advice" means advice of an attorney, certified public accountant, actuary or other licensed professional adviser:

(i) Who is engaged by a payee to render advice

concerning the legal, tax and financial implications of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights;

(ii) Who is not in any manner affiliated with or compensated by the transferee of such transfer; and

(iii) Whose compensation for rendering such advice is not affected by whether a transfer occurs or does not occur;

(f) "Interested parties" means, with respect to any structured settlement, 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.

(g) "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.

(h) "Settled claim" means the original tort claim or workers' compensation claim resolved by a structured settlement.

(i) "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.

(j) "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.

(k) "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.

(l) "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:

(i) The payee is a resident of this State;

(ii) The structured settlement agreement was approved by a court or responsible administrative authority in this State; or

(iii) The settled claim was pending before the courts of this State when the parties entered into the structured settlement agreement;

(m) "Transfer" means any sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other form of alienation or encumbrance made by a payee for consideration.

(n) "Terms of the structured settlement" include, 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.

(o) "Transfer agreement" means the agreement providing for transfer of structured settlement payment rights from a payee to a transferee.

SECTION 3. Jurisdiction; procedure for approval of transfers.

(1) The Chancery Courts shall have jurisdiction over any application for authorization under Section 1 of this act of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights.

(2) Not less than twenty (20) days prior to the scheduled hearing on any application for authorization of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights under Section 1 of this act, the transferee shall file with the court and serve on all interested parties a notice of the proposed transfer and the application for its authorization, including in such notice:

(a) A copy of the transferee's application;

(b) A copy of the transfer agreement;

(c) A copy of the disclosure statement required under Section 1(b) of this act;

(d) Notification that any interested party is entitled to support, oppose or otherwise respond to the transferee's application, either in person or by counsel, by submitting written comments to the court or by participating in the hearing; and

(e) Notification of the time and place of the hearing and notification of the manner in which and the time by which written responses to the application must be filed in order to be considered by the court.

SECTION 4. No waiver; no penalties.

(1) The provisions of this act may not be waived.

(2) No payee who proposes to make a transfer of structured settlement payment rights shall incur any penalty, forfeit any application fee or other payment, or otherwise incur any liability to the proposed transferee based on any failure of such transfer to satisfy the conditions of Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 5. Construction.

Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to authorize any transfer of structured settlement payment rights in contravention of applicable law or to give effect to any transfer of structured settlement payment rights that is invalid under applicable law.

SECTION 6. Effective date.

This act shall apply to any transfer of structured settlement payment rights under a transfer agreement entered into on or after the date of enactment of this act; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall imply that any transfer under a transfer agreement reached prior to such date is effective.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.