For the purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Buyer’s first right of refusal” means any provision in the transfer agreement or related documents that obligate the payee to give to the buyer the first choice or option to purchase any remaining structured settlement rights belonging to the payee.
(b) “Dependents” include the payee’s spouse and minor children and all other family members and other persons for whom the payee is legally obligated to provide support, including alimony.
(c) “Discounted present value” means the fair present value of future payments, as determined by discounting those payments to the present using the most recently published applicable federal rate for determining the present value of an annuity, as issued by the United States Internal Revenue Service.
(d) “Effective equivalent interest rate,” with respect to a transfer of structured settlement payment rights, means the annualized rate of interest on the net advance amount, calculated by treating the transferred structured settlement payments as if they were installment payments on a loan, with each payment applied first to accrued unpaid interest and then to principal.
(e) “Expenses” means all broker’s commissions, service charges, application or processing fees, closing costs, filing or administrative charges, legal fees, notary fees and other commissions, fees, costs, and charges that a payee would have to pay to transfer the structured settlement payment rights of a structured settlement agreement or that would be deducted from the gross consideration that would be paid to the payee in connection with the transfer of the structured settlement payment rights of a structured settlement agreement.
(f) “Independent professional advice” means advice of an attorney, certified public accountant, actuary, or other licensed professional adviser meeting all of the following requirements:
(1) The adviser is engaged by a claimant or payee to render advice concerning the legal, tax, or financial implications of a structured settlement or a transfer of structured settlement payment rights.
(2) The adviser’s compensation for rendering independent professional advice is not affected by occurrence or lack of occurrence of a settlement or transfer.
(3) A particular adviser is not referred to the payee by the transferee or its agent, except that the transferee may refer the payee to a lawyer referral service or agency operated by a state or local bar association.
(g) “Interested parties” means, with respect to a structured settlement agreement, the payee, the payee’s attorney, 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 who has continuing rights or obligations under the structured settlement agreement. If the designated beneficiary is a minor, the beneficiary’s parent or guardian shall be an interested party.
(h) “Payee” means an individual who received tax-free payments pursuant to a structured settlement agreement.
(i) “Qualified assignment agreement” means an agreement providing for a qualified assignment within the meaning of Section 130 of Title 26 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time.
(j) “Structured settlement agreement” means an arrangement for periodic payment of damages established by settlement or judgment in resolution of a tort claim in which the payment of the judgment or award is paid in whole, or in part, in periodic tax-free payments rather than a lump-sum payment. A structured settlement agreement entered into pursuant to Section 667.7 of the Code of Civil Procedure or Section 970.6 or 984 of the Government Code is not subject to the provisions of this article other than the requirements of Section 10138.
(k) “Structured settlement obligor” means the party that has the continuing periodic payment obligation to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement.
(l) “Structured settlement payment rights” means rights to receive periodic payments, including lump-sum payments, pursuant to a structured settlement agreement, whether from the settlement obligor or an annuity issuer.
(m)“Terms of the structured settlement” include, with respect to a structured settlement agreement, the terms of the structured settlement agreement, annuity contract, qualified assignment agreement, and any order or approval of a court or responsible administrative authority or other governmental authority authorizing or approving the structured settlement.
(n) “Transfer” means any sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other form of alienation or encumbrance made for consideration.
(o) “Transfer agreement” means the agreement providing for the transfer, and any other document used to effectuate the transfer, from the payee to the transferee of structured settlement payment rights of a structured settlement agreement.
(p) “Transferee” means any person receiving structured settlement payment rights resulting from a transfer.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 593, Sec. 1. (SB 510) Effective January 1, 2010.)