Friday, 5 August 2011

Advantages and Disadvantages of Structured Settlements

We hope that you will be able to take advantage of the resources we have outlined below in order to get a good idea of what to expect from this type of legal situation and best prepare yourself for what may lie ahead for you. So, here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of structured settlements that you should make yourself aware of to make sure you know what to expect and to mitigate the chance for costly surprises.

First, one of the primary reasons for the existence of these structured settlements is to help provide a stable income for someone who has suffered from some type of personal injury (this includes payment for physical injuries sustained, emotional distress sustained and even for divorce settlements). These settlements are often referred to as periodic payments because they usually involve larger sums of money that are paid out over a longer period of times. However, where many personal injury cases involve a strict reference to negligence, these structured settlement cases may not always just involve payments made to resolve negligence by a certain party involved.
One of the primary advantages of these structured settlements is the ability to receive payment when you might otherwise not be able to work (wrongful dismissal from work) or to help you maintain the lifestyle you have become accustomed to (divorce settlements). It is these payments that have helped many people to continue their preferred lifestyle and pay for costly medical expenses as well.
However, one of the negatives in this case is that sometimes these periodic payments are simply scheduled to far out to help people with their immediate needs. Plus, the size of each periodic payment made may not be large enough to meet immediate requirements and expenses to help keep the claimant solvent during a trying time.
And while one of the benefits of these periodic payments is that the scheduling of the payments works well for people with minimal financial planning abilities or skills, others have found it very frustrating to essentially have money that is rightfully theirs locked up. Therefore, many people have found it to be much better to be able to receive their scheduled settlement in one lump sum to help them maintain their preferred lifestyle to essentially move on with their lives. However, since a lump sum payment is not how these scheduled settlements are set up, the process of selling and buying scheduled settlements has become a popular option for many people.

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