In this subchapter:

Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 895.65

  • Acquire: when used in connection with a grant of power to any person, includes the acquisition by purchase, grant, gift or bequest. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Minor: means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, except that for purposes of investigating or prosecuting a person who is alleged to have violated a state or federal criminal law or any civil law or municipal ordinance, "minor" does not include a person who has attained the age of 17 years. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • 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.
  • Qualified: when applied to any person elected or appointed to office, means that such person has done those things which the person was by law required to do before entering upon the duties of the person's office. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • 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 states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • 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.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
   (1)   “Annuity issuer” means an insurer that has issued a contract to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement.
   (2)   “Business day” has the meaning given in s. 421.301 (6).
   (3)   “Dependents” means a payee’s spouse and minor children and all other persons for whom the payee is legally obligated to provide support, maintenance, or alimony.
   (4)   “Discounted present value” means the present value of future payments determined by discounting the payments to the present using the applicable federal rate for determining the present value of an annuity, as most recently issued by the federal Internal Revenue Service.
   (5)   “Gross advance amount” means the sum payable to the payee or for the payee’s account as consideration for a transfer of structured settlement payment rights before any reductions for transfer expenses or other deductions to be made from such consideration.
   (6)   “Independent professional advice” means advice of an attorney, certified public accountant, actuary, or other licensed professional adviser.
   (7)   “Interested parties” means the payee, any beneficiary irrevocably 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 a structured settlement. If the payee is a trust that names the state as a remainder beneficiary, or the payee is a trustee of such a trust, the secretary of health services is an interested party.
   (8)   “Net advance amount” means the gross advance amount less the aggregate amount of the actual and estimated transfer expenses required to be disclosed under s. 895.66 (5).
   (9)   “Payee” means an individual who is receiving tax-free payments under a structured settlement and proposes to make a transfer of the payment rights.
   (10)   “Periodic payments” includes both recurring payments and scheduled future lump sum payments.
   (11)   “Qualified assignment agreement” means an agreement providing for a qualified assignment within the meaning of section 130 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, Title 26, USC.
   (12)   “Settled claim” means the original tort claim resolved by a structured settlement.
   (13)   “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.
   (14)   “Structured settlement agreement” means the agreement, judgment, stipulation, or release embodying the terms of a structured settlement.
   (15)   “Structured settlement obligor” means the party that has the continuing obligation to make periodic payments to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement.
   (16)   “Structured settlement payment rights” means rights to receive periodic payments under a structured settlement if any of the following applies:
      (a)    The payee is domiciled in, or the domicile or principal place of business of the structured settlement obligor or the annuity issuer is located in, this state.
      (b)    The structured settlement agreement was approved by a court in this state.
      (c)    The structured settlement agreement is expressly governed by the laws of this state.
   (17)   “Terms of the structured settlement” means the terms or conditions of the structured settlement agreement, the annuity contract, any qualified assignment agreement, and any order or other approval of any court that authorized or approved the structured settlement.
   (18)   
      (a)    “Transfer” means any sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other alienation or encumbrance of structured settlement payment rights made by a payee for consideration. Except as provided in par. (b), transfer does not include the creation or perfection of a security interest in structured settlement payment rights under a blanket security agreement entered into with an insured depository institution.
      (b)    “Transfer” includes the creation or perfection, by an insured depository institution, of a security interest in structured settlement payment rights if there is an action to redirect the structured settlement payments to the insured depository institution, or an agent or successor in interest thereof, or otherwise to enforce a blanket security interest against the structured settlement payment rights.
   (19)   “Transfer agreement” means the agreement providing for a transfer of structured settlement payment rights.
   (20)   “Transfer expenses” means all expenses of a transfer that are required under the transfer agreement to be paid by the payee or deducted from the gross advance amount, including court filing fees, attorney fees, escrow fees, lien recordation fees, judgment and lien search fees, finders’ fees, commissions, and other payments to a broker or other intermediary. Transfer expenses do not include preexisting obligations of the payee payable for the payee’s account from the proceeds of a transfer.
   (21)   “Transferee” means a party acquiring or proposing to acquire structured settlement payment rights through a transfer.

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