Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 33 > Chapter 20 > Part 14 - Structured Settlement Protection

• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Annuity issuer: means an insurer that has issued a contract to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Consideration: has the meaning provided in 28-2-801. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Discounted present value: means the present value of future payments determined by discounting the future 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. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Gross advance amount: means the sum payable to the payee or to the payee's account as consideration for a transfer of a structured settlement payment right before any reduction for a transfer expense or any other deduction is made from the sum. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Independent professional advice: means advice of an attorney, a certified public accountant, an actuary, or any licensed professional adviser. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Interested party: means , with respect to a structured settlement, the payee, any beneficiary irrevocably designated under the annuity contract to receive a payment after the payee's death, the annuity issuer, the structured settlement obligor, or any other party that has a continuing right or obligation under the structured settlement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Net advance amount: means the gross advance amount minus the aggregate amount of the actual and estimated transfer expenses required to be disclosed under 33-20-1403(5). See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Payee: means an individual who is receiving tax-free payments under a structured settlement and proposes to make a transfer of the payment rights. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Periodic payment: includes both a recurring payment and any scheduled future lump-sum payments. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Qualified assignment agreement: means an agreement providing for a qualified assignment, as defined for federal tax purposes, of the liability to make periodic payments under a structured settlement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Responsible administrative authority: means , with respect to a structured settlement, any government authority vested by law with exclusive jurisdiction over the settled claim resolved by the structured settlement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Settled claim: means the original tort claim. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Structured settlement: means an arrangement for periodic payment of damages for personal injuries or sickness established by settlement or judgment in resolution of a tort claim. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Structured settlement agreement: means the written agreement, judgment, stipulation, or release embodying the terms of a structured settlement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Structured settlement obligor: means , with respect to a structured settlement, the party that has the continuing obligation to make periodic payments to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Structured settlement payment right: means the right to receive periodic payments under a structured settlement, whether from the structured settlement obligor or the annuity issuer, when:

  (a)(i) the payee is domiciled in this state; or

  (ii)the domicile or principal place of business of the structured settlement obligor or the annuity issuer is located in this state;

  (b)a court or responsible administrative authority in this state approved the structured settlement agreement; or

  (c)the structured settlement agreement is expressly governed by the laws of this state. See Montana Code 33-20-1402

• Terms of the structured settlement: means , with respect to a structured settlement, the terms of the structured settlement agreement, the annuity contract, a qualified assignment agreement, or any order or other approval of a court or responsible administrative authority or other government authority that authorized or approved the structured settlement. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Transfer: means a sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other alienation or encumbrance of a structured settlement payment right made by a payee for consideration. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Transfer agreement: means the agreement providing for a transfer of a structured settlement payment right. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• Transfer expenses: means all expenses of a transfer that are:

  (i)required under the transfer agreement to be paid by the payee; or

  (ii)deducted from the gross advance amount, including without limitation any court filing fee, attorney fee, escrow fee, lien recordation fee, judgment and lien search fee, finder's fee, commission, and other payments to a broker or other intermediary. See Montana Code 33-20-1402

• Transferee: means a party acquiring or proposing to acquire a structured settlement payment right through a transfer. See Montana Code 33-20-1402
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203