(a) A direct or indirect transfer of structured settlement payment rights is not effective and a structured settlement obligor or annuity issuer is not required to make any payment directly or indirectly to any transferee of structured settlement payment rights unless the transfer has been approved in advance in a final court order based on express written findings by the court that:
(1) The transfer is in the best interest of the payee, taking into account the welfare and support of the payee’s dependents.
(2) The payee has been advised in writing by the transferee to seek independent professional advice regarding the transfer and has either received that advice or knowingly waived, in writing, the opportunity to receive the advice.
(3) The transferee has complied with the notification requirements pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), the transferee has provided the payee with a disclosure form that complies with Section 10136, and the transfer agreement complies with Sections 10136 and 10138.
(4) The transfer does not contravene any applicable statute or the order of any court or other government authority.
(5) The payee understands the terms of the transfer agreement, including the terms set forth in the disclosure statement required by Section 10136.
(6) The payee understands and does not wish to exercise the payee’s right to cancel the transfer agreement.
(b) When determining whether the proposed transfer should be approved, including whether the transfer is fair, reasonable, and in the payee’s best interest, taking into account the welfare and support of the payee’s dependents, the court shall consider the totality of the circumstances, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The reasonable preference and desire of the payee to complete the proposed transaction, taking into account the payee’s age, mental capacity, legal knowledge, and apparent maturity level.
(2) The stated purpose of the transfer.
(3) The payee’s financial and economic situation.
(4) The terms of the transaction, including whether the payee is transferring monthly or lump sum payments or all or a portion of his or her future payments.
(5) Whether, when the settlement was completed, the future periodic payments that are the subject of the proposed transfer were intended to pay for the future medical care and treatment of the payee relating to injuries sustained by the payee in the incident that was the subject of the settlement and whether the payee still needs those future payments to pay for that future care and treatment.
(6) Whether, when the settlement was completed, the future periodic payments that are the subject of the proposed transfer were intended to provide for the necessary living expenses of the payee and whether the payee still needs the future structured settlement payments to pay for future necessary living expenses.
(7) Whether the payee is, at the time of the proposed transfer, likely to require future medical care and treatment for the injuries that the payee sustained in connection with the incident that was the subject of the settlement and whether the payee lacks other resources, including insurance, sufficient to cover those future medical expenses.
(8) Whether the payee has other means of income or support, aside from the structured settlement payments that are the subject of the proposed transfer, sufficient to meet the payee’s future financial obligations for maintenance and support of the payee’s dependents, specifically including, but not limited to, the payee’s child support obligations, if any. The payee shall disclose to the transferee and the court his or her court-ordered child support or maintenance obligations for the court’s consideration.
(9) Whether the financial terms of the transaction, including the discount rate applied to determine the amount to be paid to the payee, the expenses and costs of the transaction for both the payee and the transferee, the size of the transaction, the available financial alternatives to the payee to achieve the payee’s stated objectives, are fair and reasonable.
(10) Whether the payee completed previous transactions involving the payee’s structured settlement payments and the timing and size of the previous transactions and whether the payee was satisfied with any previous transaction.
(11) Whether the transferee attempted previous transactions involving the payee’s structured settlement payments that were denied, or that were dismissed or withdrawn prior to a decision on the merits, within the past five years.
(12) Whether, to the best of the transferee’s knowledge after making inquiry with the payee, the payee has attempted structured settlement payment transfer transactions with another person or entity, other than the transferee, that were denied, or which were dismissed or withdrawn prior to a decision on the merits, within the past five years.
(13) Whether the payee, or his or her family or dependents, are in or are facing a hardship situation.
(14) Whether the payee received independent legal or financial advice regarding the transaction. The court may deny or defer ruling on the petition for approval of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights if the court believes that the payee does not fully understand the proposed transaction and that independent legal or financial advice regarding the transaction should be obtained by the payee.
(15) Any other factors or facts that the payee, the transferee, or any other interested party calls to the attention of the reviewing court or that the court determines should be considered in reviewing the transfer.
(c) Every petition for approval of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights, except as provided in subdivision (d), shall include, to the extent known after the transferee has made reasonable inquiry with the payee, all of the following:
(1) The payee’s name, address, and age.
(2) The payee’s marital status, and, if married or separated, the name of the payee’s spouse.
(3) The names, ages, and place or places of residence of the payee’s minor children or other dependents, if any.
(4) The amounts and sources of the payee’s monthly income and financial resources and, if presently married, the amounts and sources of the monthly income and financial resources of the payee’s spouse.
(5) Whether the payee is currently obligated under any child support or spousal support order, and, if so, the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any individual, entity, or agency that is receiving child or spousal support from the payee under that order or that has jurisdiction over the order or the payments in question.
(6) Information regarding previous transfers or attempted transfers, as described in paragraph (11), (12), or (13) of subdivision (b). The transferee or payee may choose to provide this information by providing copies of pleadings, transaction documents, or orders involving any previous attempted or completed transfer or by providing the court a summary of available information regarding any previous transfer or attempted transfer, such as the date of the transfer or attempted transfer, the payments transferred or attempted to be transferred by the payee in the earlier transaction, the amount of money received by the payee in connection with the previous transaction, and generally the payee’s reasons for pursuing or completing a previous transaction. The transferee’s inability to provide the information required by this paragraph shall not preclude the court from approving the proposed transfer, if the court determines that the information is not available to the transferee after the transferee has made a reasonable effort to secure the information, including making an inquiry with the payee.
(d) With respect to the information required to be included in every petition for approval of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights pursuant to paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) of subdivision (c), that information shall be deemed to be included in the petition if it is provided at the scheduled hearing on the proposed transfer through oral testimony or documentary evidence filed with the court and made a part of the record consistent with the rules of evidence and procedure.
(e) Following a transfer of structured settlement payment rights under this article:
(1) The structured settlement obligor and the annuity issuer shall, as to all parties except the transferee, be discharged and released from any and all liability for the transferred payments.
(2) The transferee shall be liable to the structured settlement obligor and the annuity issuer if the transfer contravenes the terms of the structured settlement for the following:
(A) Any taxes incurred by those parties as a consequence of the transfer.
(B) Any other liabilities or costs, including reasonable costs and attorney’s fees, arising from compliance by those parties with the order of the court or arising as a consequence of the transferee’s failure to comply with this article.
(3) Neither the annuity issuer nor the structured settlement obligor may be required to divide any periodic payment between the payee and any transferee or assignee or between two, or more, transferees or assignees.
(4) Any further transfer of structured settlement payment rights by the payee may be made only after compliance with all of the requirements of this article.
(f) (1) A petition under this article for approval of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights shall be made by the transferee and brought in the county in which the payee resides at the time the transfer agreement is signed by the payee, or, if the payee is not domiciled in California, in the county in which the payee resides or in the county where the structured settlement obligor or annuity issuer is domiciled.
(2) Not less than 20 days prior to the scheduled hearing on any petition for approval of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights under this article, the transferee shall file with the court and serve on all interested parties a notice of the proposed transfer and the petition for its authorization, and shall include the following with that notice:
(A) A copy of the transferee’s current petition and any other prior petition, whether approved or withdrawn, that was filed with the court in accordance with paragraph (6) of subdivision (c).
(B) A copy of the proposed transfer agreement and disclosure form required by paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
(C) A listing of each of the payee’s dependents, together with each dependent’s age.
(D) A copy of the disclosure required in subdivision (b) of Section 10136.
(E) A copy of the annuity contract, if available.
(F) A copy of any qualified assignment agreement, if available.
(G) A copy of the underlying structured settlement agreement, if available.
(H) If a copy of a document described in subparagraph (E), (F), or (G) is unavailable or cannot be located, then the transferee is not required to attach a copy of that document to the petition or notice of the proposed transfer if the transferee satisfies the court that reasonable efforts to locate and secure a copy of the document have been made, including making inquiry with the payee. If the documents are available, but contain a confidentiality or nondisclosure provision, then the transferee shall summarize in the petition the payments due and owing to the payee, and, if requested by the court, shall provide copies of the documents to the court at a scheduled hearing.
(I) Proof of service showing compliance with the notification requirements of this section.
(J) Notification that any interested party is entitled to support, oppose, or otherwise respond to the transferee’s petition, either in person or by counsel, by submitting written comments to the court or by participating in the hearing.
(K) Notification of the time and place of the hearing and notification of the manner in which and the time by which written responses to the petition must be filed, which may not be less than 15 days after service of the transferee’s notice, in order to be considered by the court.
(L) If the payee entered into the structured settlement at issue within five years prior to the date of the transfer agreement, then the transferee shall provide the following notice to the payee’s attorney of record at the time the structured settlement was created, if the attorney is licensed to practice in California, at the attorney’s address on file with the State Bar of California. The notice shall be delivered by regular mail and shall contain the following language:
“Your former client, (insert name, address and telephone number of payee), the ‘payee,’ has entered into a contract with (insert name of transferee) to transfer and assign certain future structured settlement payment rights. The transaction is subject to court review and approval under California law. As the payee’s former attorney, you are entitled to receive this notice. You are not required to represent, advise, or consult with the payee in connection with the proposed transaction. You are not required to take any action at all in response to this notice. You may, but are not required to, contact the payee regarding the transaction. The payee is not required to consult with you or provide you any information regarding the transaction, but the payee may do so if he or she wishes.”
The notice to the former attorney described in this section is not required to be provided if the payee in the transaction was not a party to the original structured settlement at issue (for example, if the payee is an heir or beneficiary of the person who was a party to the original structured settlement). Also, if the payee cannot recall or identify his or her former attorney and if the identity of the former attorney cannot be ascertained from the available structured settlement documents, then the notice described in this subparagraph is not required to be provided and the transfer may proceed without the notice.
(g) All court costs and filing fees shall be paid by the transferee.
(h) No later than the time of filing the petition for court approval, the transferee shall advise the payee of the payee’s right to seek independent counsel and financial advice in connection with the transferee’s petition for court approval of the transfer agreement, and shall further advise the payee that if the payee retains counsel, a licensed certified public accountant, or a licensed actuary in connection with a petition for an order approving the transfer agreement, that the transferee shall pay the fees of the payee’s counsel, accountant, or actuary, regardless of whether the transfer agreement is approved, and regardless of whether the attorney, accountant, or actuary files any document or appears at the hearing on the petition for transfer, in an aggregate amount not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500). The transferee’s accountant, counsel, or actuary may not advise the payee.
(i) The court shall retain continuing jurisdiction to interpret and monitor the implementation and closing of the transaction that is the subject of the transfer agreement as justice requires.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 593, Sec. 8. (SB 510) Effective January 1, 2010.)