Montana Code 33-20-1312. Conditions precedent to entering into viatical settlement contract
33-20-1312. Conditions precedent to entering into viatical settlement contract. (1) Before a viatical settlement provider enters into a viatical settlement contract with a policyholder or certificate holder who has a terminal illness or condition, the viatical settlement provider shall first obtain the following:
Terms Used In Montana Code 33-20-1312
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Viatical settlement contract: means a written agreement establishing the terms under which compensation or anything of value will be paid, when the compensation or value is less than the expected death benefit of the insurance policy or certificate, in return for the viator's assignment, transfer, sale, devise, or bequest of the death benefit or ownership of any portion of the insurance policy or certificate of insurance. See Montana Code 33-20-1302
- Viatical settlement provider: means a person who solicits, enters into, or negotiates viatical settlement contracts or offers to enter into or negotiate viatical settlement contracts. See Montana Code 33-20-1302
(a)a written statement from an attending physician that the policyholder or certificate holder is of sound mind and not under constraint or undue influence; and
(b)a witnessed document in which the policyholder or certificate holder:
(i)consents to the viatical settlement contract;
(ii)acknowledges that the illness or condition is terminal;
(iii)represents that the policyholder or certificate holder has a full and complete understanding of the viatical settlement contract;
(iv)confirms that the policyholder or certificate holder has a full and complete understanding of the benefits of the life insurance policy;
(v)releases the medical records of the policyholder or certificate holder relating to the terminal illness or condition; and
(vi)acknowledges that the policyholder or certificate holder has entered into the viatical settlement contract freely and voluntarily.
(2)A viatical settlement provider may enter a viatical settlement contract only after the individual whose life would be the subject of the viatical settlement contract is determined to have a terminal illness or condition, as follows:
(a)if the individual is the policyholder or certificate holder, an attending physician of the policyholder or certificate holder shall make the determination; or
(b)if the individual is a person other than the policyholder or certificate holder, an attending physician of the individual or of the policyholder or certificate holder shall make the determination.
(3)For purposes of this section, “attending physician” means a medical doctor, a doctor of osteopathy, or a naturopathic physician licensed in this state, who is primarily responsible for the treatment or a portion of treatment of the individual whose life would be the subject of the viatical settlement contract.