Structured settlements are usually the result of an automobile accident, an injury sustained on the job or a personal injury that was not your fault. They’re awarded to help compensate you for lost time on the job, to pay down medical bills incurred in treating the injury (or as part of ongoing treatment for the injury) and for many other reasons. The settlement amount will be held in reserve, and doled out in increments (usually monthly, though they can also be quarterly, bimonthly or even annually depending on the situation). The problem here is that those small payments may not be enough to cover your expenses. If that’s the case here, you might be wondering if you can sell your structured settlement. The answer is “maybe”.
What Limits Your Ability to Sell?
That settlement is your money. It was awarded to you by the court. What limits your ability to sell it as you’d like? After all, you’re free to sell any other possessions you might own as you want. That’s not the case with structured settlements. Once upon a time, recipients could do as they wished with them, but the high incidence of low payment amounts, or even fraudulent sales, and individuals selling their entire settlement for a mere pittance caused the government to institute laws governing structured settlement sales. So, who can sell their structured settlements?
Proven Financial Need
The most common grounds for a judge approving the sale of a structured settlement are verifiable financial needs. This is more than just the need to pay down a few extra bills, though. You must be able to prove to the judge that you are in serious financial need. Perhaps you’re bound to a wheelchair now, and you need to retrofit your home to be wheelchair accessible. Perhaps you’ve incurred very high ongoing medical bills that are outside the scope of what the initial settlement predicted. Real, verifiable financial problems are needed to get a judge’s approval on the sale.
Reputable Buyers and High Percentages
Most of the structured settlement sales approved by courts across the country are to reputable buyers who are offering high percentages of the remaining balance of your settlement. The judge will scrutinize the sale agreement, the remaining balance of your structured settlement (or the percentage that you’re selling), as well as the company’s history and reputation. If he or she disagrees with any of these elements or the company doesn’t meet with approval, chances are good that the sale will not be allowed to move forward until changes are made.
The Best Option for Selling a Structured Settlement
Selling a structured settlement on your own is never an easy thing to do, particularly if you’re not sure the judge will approve the sale. The best option is to work with a company that connects you with reputable buyers known for offering the highest percentage of the total settlement amount. This takes the stress, hassle and worry out of the situation and increases the chances that the judge will approve the sale.