Section 626.99245 of the Florida statutes reads:
In negotiating a structured
settlement of claims brought by or on behalf of a claimant who is
domiciled in this state, the structured settlement obligor must
disclose in writing to the claimant or the claimant's legal
representative all of the following information that is not otherwise
specified in the structured settlement agreement:
1. The amounts and due
dates of the periodic payments to be made under the structured
settlement agreement. In the case of payments that will be subject to
periodic percentage increases, the amounts of future payments may be
disclosed by identifying the base payment amount, the amount and timing
of scheduled increases, and the manner in which increases will be
compounded;
2. The amount of the premium payable to the annuity issuer;
3. The discounted present
value of all periodic payments that are not life-contingent, together
with the discount rate used in determining the discounted present
value;
4. The nature and amount of any costs that may be deducted from any of the periodic payments;
5. Where applicable, that
any transfer of the periodic payments is prohibited by the terms of the
structured settlement and may otherwise be prohibited or restricted
under applicable law; and
6. That any transfer of the periodic payments by the claimant may subject the claimant to serious adverse tax consequences.
Defendants, lawyers representing defendants and structured settlement consultants representing defendants need to be aware of their obligation, even though many plaintiff structured settlement consultants provide the information to their clients. Much of the disclosure can be incorporated into the release as provided by the statute.
Leave a Reply