Stuctured Settlemements Are Not For Everyone.

For the past five years I have originated funding transactions and have worked with trial lawyers nationwide. Before that, I tried cases for 20 yrs. So based upon 25 years of my interaction with attorneys, clients and insurance carriers, I have come to one clear, unwavering conclusion; structured settlements are not for everyone.
We all know why "structures are pushed";
1. Judges push them to "protect the plaintiff";
2. Attorneys use them to beef up a settlement, because a carrier proposes it, because some lawyers actually care about the client's financial well-being after the settlement and for a variety of other reasons and
3. Carriers use them for the obvious financial reason; i.e. Allstate Life Insurance Company issuing an annuity for Allstate Property and Casualty is a "paper transaction" where the money($) stays in the Allstate Family earning untold amounts of interest.
Yes, structured settlements are good in certain situations; a brain damaged baby case, an infant with severe life-altering injuries, young children who are distributees in a significant wrongful death case and victims of disabling traumatic brain injuries.
But even in the most appropriate cases, the amount of money placed into the structure must be balanced with the amount of" upfront cash" going to the client or familiy. Otherwise, the client buys a house, runs out of money, and then not even a year post-settlement the client is looking to sell a payment or stream of payments from the annuity(These transactions require Court approval pursuant to the GOL).
A structure is not appropriate for settlements under $50,000, or where 80% of the money is put into a structure and 20 % is paid as upfront cash. I grimace when I see the first payment under an annuity contract coming due 10 years or more after a settlement....I guarantee you no one , unless financially secure independent of the annuity ,can hold out for the first payment. And then there's those hard- headed, stubborn, recalcitrant clients who "just want their money and want it now"! Nothing you can do about it.
So the moral of this story is; Don't push a structure for the sake of pushing a structure; Remember they are not for everyone.