Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog 2026
Structured settlements expert John Darer reviews the latest structured settlements and settlement planning information and news, and provides expert opinion and highly regarded commentary. that is spicy, Informative, irreverent and effective for over 20 years.
recent posts
- Structured Settlement Annuity Guarantees Help Financial Peace of Mind
- How Sheron Jones Was Exploited — And Why D.C.’s Failure to Mandate IPA in SSPA Enabled It
- Attorney Fee Structured Settlement Factoring
- One Year Later: The Structured Settlement–to–Bitcoin Anniversary Nobody Is Celebrating
- SettlementDecisions Episode 4: Purports to be a Directory-Delivers Spam Instead
about
Category: Misinformation About Settlement Planning
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If you’ve got a structured settlement, avoid loony “fortune cookie” mailers claiming you have unclaimed funds. They toss around phrases like “Structured Settlement,” “Client Relations Dept,” and “Immediate Verification Required,” while flashing 888-556-2740 like it’s a winning lottery ticket.
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If a qualified settlement fund is a trust under state law,as required by tax regulations, wouldn’t any income and gains generated by the investment of the assets in the trust be subject to tax on a state or federal level?
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Settlement Advocates, associated with Owings Mills’ Ryan Blank claims to be an affiliate of the NASP, although it’s not listed. Let’s ponder “what is a settlement advocate?” and whether a member of an association of “cents on the dollar” buyers can legitimately use the term settlement advocate.
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Seneca One Finance falsely implies that you can retire broke if you are receiving structured settlement payments (with its putative solution being selling your structured settlement to them for a discounted lump sum)
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I did an extensive analysis about the Grillo v Pettiette, a case that has spawned white papers, Lawyers’ Weekly articles and even waivers that plaintiff lawyers should have their client’s sign, that are named after Ms. Grillo. The only thing missing is “this lousy t-shirt”.
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Sometimes the reasons for using a trust in a settlement plan are more compelling than achieving the highest return. Said a different way, sometimes the highest return is not consistent with the goal of preservation of capital for those that are naturally (or by necessity) risk averse.
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The “Grillo Case” illustrates potential attorney fee liability for not considering structured settlements. Legal malpractice concerns arise over whether there is a duty to offer them, especially given errors in reporting on the case. The firm’s failure to implement a Special Needs Trust contributed significantly to Medicaid losses, not merely the structured settlement discussion. Legal…
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The settlement profession has evolved over the years. It is important for plaintiff attorneys and their clients to have someone who is qualified, and that they feel comfortable with, to advise them on settlement planning and transitional financial planning issues.
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The new website of John Bat’s Plaintiff Settlement Solutions Incorporated (“PSSI”, pronounced “Pissy”) is NOT one of “life’s moments that takes our breath away”. As Will Smith might have paraphrased back in the day, time to start “gettin’ pissy with it”
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A structured settlement is NOT “a special interest bearing account”. Foti has mislabeled interest bearing depository accounts that are set forth in Section 540.08 of the 2008 Minnesota statutes and 145.05(d) and 145.05(e) of the above cited rules as structured settlements. Boo!