Montana Code 33-20-1318. Conflict of laws
33-20-1318. Conflict of laws. (1) If there is more than one owner on a single life insurance policy and the owners are residents of different states, the viatical settlement contract is governed by the law of the state in which the owner having the largest percentage ownership resides or, if the owners hold equal ownership, the state of residence of one owner agreed upon in writing by all of the owners. The law of the state of the insured governs if equal owners fail to agree in writing upon a state of residence for jurisdictional purposes.
Terms Used In Montana Code 33-20-1318
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- 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
- Viatical settlement purchaser: means a person who, for the purpose of deriving an economic benefit:
(i)gives consideration for a life insurance policy or an interest in the death benefits of a life insurance policy; or
(ii)owns, acquires, or is entitled to a beneficial interest in a trust that owns a viatical settlement contract or that is the beneficiary of a life insurance policy that has been or will be the subject of a viatical settlement contract. See Montana Code 33-20-1302
- Viator: means the owner of a life insurance policy or the certificate holder under a group policy who enters or seeks to enter into a viatical settlement contract. See Montana Code 33-20-1302
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(2)(a) A viatical settlement provider from this state who enters into a viatical settlement contract with a viator who is a resident of another state that has enacted statutes or adopted regulations governing viatical settlement contracts is governed in the effectuation of that viatical settlement contract by the statutes and regulations of the viator’s state of residence.
(b)A viatical settlement provider from this state who enters into a viatical settlement contract with a viator who is a resident of another state that has not enacted statutes or adopted regulations governing viatical settlement contracts is governed in the effectuation of that viatical settlement contract by the laws of this state. The viatical settlement provider shall give the viator notice that this state regulates the transaction into which the viator is entering. The viatical settlement provider shall maintain all records required by this state and use forms approved in this state.
(3)If there is a conflict in the laws that apply to a viator and a viatical settlement purchaser in any individual transaction, the laws of the state that apply to the viator take precedence and the viatical settlement provider shall comply with those laws.