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
- Corinthian Museum of Content Barfing — News Flash
- SettlementDecisions Episode 5: What SettlementDecisions Really Is — A Lead Funnel, Not an Information Source
- 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
about
Category: Taxes and Settlements
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( “Obamacare”), signedinto law March 2010, levies an 3.8% tax on annuity payouts that high-income earners purchase outside of the workplace. High income earners include single taxpayers earning in excess of $200,000 and married taxpayers earning over $250,000.
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Structured settlements are commonly used to pay damages for personal physical injury or physical sickness, wrongful death, or claims pursuant workers compensation statute. IRC 104(a)(1) and IRC 104(a)(2) provide exemptions for income paid for such types of damages..
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Today's financial literacy lesson concerns structured attorney fees, specifically where one of my industry colleagues flubs his lines when describing why to do them. He says "For married couples who file their taxes jointly under the present law, the highest marginal tax bracket surpasses 30 percent. A lawyer, who would have under normal circumstances earned a…
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The Obama administration seeks to raise nearly $60 billion by closing loopholes according to various news reports on May 11, 2009. These potential loophole closings have a potentially significant impact on settlement industry stakeholders . "Another Loophole closing?" The tax "garrotte" includes items related to the estate tax, and also revived a bid to cap itemized deductions wealthy individuals…
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Whistleblower damages are essentially taxable so by taking a lump sum you are screwing yourself twice. You get less for the privilege of instant gratification and then, unless you have offsetting tax deductions, you keep less because you only have the net after tax amount to consume.
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Don’t kill the client’s ability to do a structured settlement. Avoid torching all your hard work after a long day of settlement negotiations at mediation by blowing it on flawed “cookie cutter” settlement documentation! Be mindful of the constructive receipt doctrine
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Successful personal injury attorneys should consider that now, potentially faced with the proposed NY surcharge, structuring attorney fees may be the better alternative.
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The answer is ” a structured settlement lasts virtually as long as you want!” . Call 203-561-6560 to discuss your options.
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The claim that structured settlements are “tax-free” is misleading. While most structured settlement payments are exempt from federal and state income taxes, other taxes, such as estate taxes and certain excise taxes, may apply. Advertisements must accurately convey these nuances to avoid deception according to federal regulations.
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Increasingly, "the tax problems associated with litigation recoveries are nuanced and not suited tocookie-cutter solutions" says tax attorney Robert Wood in an excellent picece entitled Top 10 Mistakes Made by Contingency Fee Lawyers , published May 16, 2011 in Tax Notes The important message is that… "Lawyers, structured settlement brokers, accountants, financial advisers,…