                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 59.1-475)

For purposes of this chapter:
		&#8220;Annuity issuer&#8221; means an insurer that has issued a contract to
fund periodic payments under a structured settlement.
		&#8220;Applicable federal rate&#8221; means the most recently published
applicable federal rate for determining the present value of an annuity, as
prescribed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7520,
as amended.
		&#8220;Assignee&#8221; means a party acquiring or proposing to acquire
structured settlement payment rights directly or indirectly from a transferee of
such rights.
		&#8220;Dependents&#8221; include a payee&#8217;s spouse and minor children and
all other persons for whom the payee is legally obligated to provide support,
including alimony.
		&#8220;Discounted present value&#8221; means the present value of future
payments determined by discounting such 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.
		&#8220;Gross advance amount&#8221; means the sum payable to the payee or for
the payee&#8217;s account as consideration for a transfer of structured
settlement payment rights before any reductions for transfer expenses or other
deductions to be made from such consideration.
		&#8220;Independent professional advice&#8221; means advice of an attorney,
certified public accountant, actuary or other licensed professional adviser.
		&#8220;Interested parties&#8221; means, with respect to any structured
settlement:

1. The payee;

2. Any beneficiary irrevocably designated under the annuity contract to receive
payments following the payee&#8217;s death or, if such beneficiary is a minor,
the designated beneficiary&#8217;s parent or guardian;

3. The annuity issuer;

4. The structured settlement obligor; and

5. Any other party to such structured settlement that has continuing rights or
obligations to receive or make payments under such structured settlement.
			&#8220;Net advance amount&#8221; means the gross advance amount less the
aggregate amount of the actual and estimated transfer expenses required to be
disclosed under subdivision 5 of &#xA7; 59.1-475.1.
			&#8220;Payee&#8221; means an individual who is receiving tax free payments
under a structured settlement and proposes to make a transfer of payment rights
thereunder.
			&#8220;Periodic payments&#8221; includes both recurring payments and
scheduled future lump sum payments.
			&#8220;Qualified assignment agreement&#8221; means an agreement providing for
a qualified assignment within the meaning of &#xA7; 130 of the United States
Internal Revenue Code, United States Code Title 26, as amended from time to
time.
			&#8220;Settled claim&#8221; means the original tort claim resolved by a
structured settlement.
			&#8220;Structured settlement&#8221; means an arrangement for periodic payment
of damages for personal injuries or sickness established by settlement or
judgment in resolution of a tort claim.
			&#8220;Structured settlement agreement&#8221; means the agreement, judgment,
stipulation, or release embodying the terms of a structured settlement.
			&#8220;Structured settlement obligor&#8221; means, with respect to any
structured settlement, a party that has a continuing obligation to make periodic
payments to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified
assignment agreement.
			&#8220;Structured settlement payment rights&#8221; means rights to receive
periodic payments under a structured settlement, whether from the structured
settlement obligor or the annuity issuer, where the payee is domiciled in the
Commonwealth or the structured settlement agreement was approved by a court in
the Commonwealth.
			&#8220;Terms of the structured settlement&#8221; include, with respect to any
structured settlement, the terms of the structured settlement agreement, the
annuity contract, any qualified assignment agreement, and any order or other
approval of any court or other government authority that authorized or approved
such structured settlement.
			&#8220;Transfer&#8221; means any sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or
other alienation or encumbrance of structured settlement payment rights made by
a payee for consideration; however, the term &#8220;transfer&#8221; shall not
include the creation or perfection of a security interest in structured
settlement payment rights under a blanket security agreement entered into with
an insured depository institution, in the absence of any action to redirect the
structured settlement payments to such insured depository institution, or an
agent or successor in interest thereof, or otherwise to enforce such blanket
security interest against the structured settlement payment rights.
			&#8220;Transfer agreement&#8221; means the agreement providing for transfer
of structured settlement payment rights.
			&#8220;Transfer expenses&#8221; means all expenses of a transfer that are
required under the transfer agreement to be paid by the payee or deducted from
the gross advance amount, including, without limitation, court filing fees,
attorneys&#8217; fees, escrow fees, lien recordation fees, judgment and lien
search fees, finders&#8217; fees, commissions, and other payments to a broker or
other intermediary; however, &#8220;transfer expenses&#8221; shall not include
preexisting obligations of the payee payable for the payee&#8217;s account from
the proceeds of a transfer.
			&#8220;Transferee&#8221; means a party acquiring or proposing to acquire
structured settlement payment rights through a transfer.

HISTORY: 1999, c. 993; 2001, c. 537; 2006, c. 786; 2016, cc. 273, 739.