Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 431C - Life Settlements

• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Broker: means a person who, on behalf of an owner and for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, offers or attempts to negotiate life settlement contracts between an owner and providers, represents only the owner, and owes a fiduciary duty to the owner to act according to the owner's instructions, and in the best interest of the owner, notwithstanding the manner in which the broker is compensated. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Business of life settlements: means an activity involved in but not limited to offering to enter into the soliciting, negotiating, procuring, effectuating, monitoring, or tracking of life settlement contracts. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:2-103
• Certificate: means a certificate issued pursuant to a group policy. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Chronically ill: means :

  (1) Being unable to perform at least two activities of daily living, such as eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, or continence;

  (2) Requiring substantial supervision to protect the individual from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment; or

  (3) Having a level of disability similar to that described in paragraph (1) as determined by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2

• Commissioner: means the insurance commissioner. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financing entity: means an underwriter, placement agent, lender, purchaser of securities, purchaser of a policy or certificate from a provider, credit enhancer, or any entity that has a direct ownership in a policy or certificate that is the subject of a life settlement contract, but:

  (1) Whose principal activity related to the transaction is providing funds to effect the life settlement contract or purchase of one or more policies; and

  (2) Who has an agreement in writing with one or more providers to finance the acquisition of life settlement contracts. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2

• Financing transaction: means a transaction in which a licensed provider obtains financing from a financing entity including, without limitation, any secured or unsecured financing, any securitization transaction, or any securities offering that is either registered or exempt from registration under federal and state securities law. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insured: means the person covered under the policy being considered for sale in a life settlement contract. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Life expectancy: means the arithmetic mean of the number of months the insured under the policy to be settled can be expected to live as determined by a life expectancy company considering medical records and appropriate experiential data. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Life insurance producer: means any person licensed in this State as a resident or nonresident insurance producer who has received qualification for life insurance pursuant to article 9A of chapter 431. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Life settlement contract: means :

  (a)

  (1) A written agreement entered into between a provider and an owner, establishing the terms under which compensation or any thing of value will be paid, which compensation or thing of value is less than the expected death benefit of the owner's policy or certificate, in return for the owner's assignment, transfer, sale, devise, or bequest of the death benefit or any portion of the policy or certificate for compensation, where the minimum value of the contract is greater than a cash surrender value or accelerated death benefit available under the policy or certificate at the time of an application for a life settlement contract;

  (2) The transfer for compensation or value of ownership or beneficial interest in a trust or other entity that owns such policy or certificate if the trust or other entity was formed or availed of for the principal purpose of acquiring one or more life insurance contracts, which life insurance contract insures the life of a person residing in this State; or

  (3)

  (A) A written agreement for a loan or other lending transaction, secured primarily by an individual or group policy; or

  (B) A premium finance loan made for a policy on or before the date of issuance of the policy where:

  (i) The loan proceeds are not used solely to pay premiums for the policy and any costs or expenses incurred by the lender or the borrower in connection with the financing;

  (ii) The owner receives on the date of the premium finance loan a guarantee of the future life settlement value of the policy; or

  (iii) The owner agrees on the date of the premium finance loan to sell the policy or any portion of its death benefit on any date following the issuance of the policy. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2

• month: means a calendar month; and the word "year" a calendar year. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-20
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Owner: means the owner of a policy or a certificate holder under a group policy, with or without a terminal illness, who enters or seeks to enter into a life settlement contract, but shall not be limited to an owner of a policy or a certificate holder under a group policy that insures the life of an individual with a terminal or chronic illness or condition, except where specifically addressed. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any natural person or legal entity, including but not limited to a partnership, limited liability company, association, trust, or corporation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Policy: means an individual or group policy, certificate, contract, or arrangement of life insurance owned by a resident of this State, regardless of whether delivered or issued for delivery in this State. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Premium finance loan: means a loan made primarily for the purposes of making premium payments on a policy, which loan is secured by an interest in such policy. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Provider: means a person, other than an owner, who enters into or effectuates a life settlement contract with an owner. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Purchaser: means a person who pays compensation or anything of value as consideration for a beneficial interest in a trust that is vested with, or for the assignment, transfer, or sale of, an ownership or other interest in a policy or a certificate that has been the subject of a life settlement contract. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Related provider trust: means a titling trust or other trust established by a licensed provider or a financing entity for the sole purpose of holding the ownership or beneficial interest in purchased policies in connection with a financing transaction, that includes a written agreement with the licensed provider under which the licensed provider is responsible for ensuring compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements and under which the trust agrees to make all records and files relating to life settlement transactions available to the insurance division as if those records and files were maintained directly by the licensed provider. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). ^{Source: OCC}
• Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:2-103
• Sequester: To separate. Sometimes juries are sequestered from outside influences during their deliberations.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settled policy: means a policy or certificate that has been acquired by a provider pursuant to a life settlement contract. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Special purpose entity: means a corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, or other legal entity formed solely to provide either directly or indirectly access to institutional capital markets for a financing entity or provider in connection with a transaction in which the securities in the special purpose entity:

  (1) Are acquired by the owner or by a "qualified institutional buyer" as defined in Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; or

  (2) Pay a fixed rate of return commensurate with established asset-backed institutional capital markets. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2

• Stranger-originated life insurance: means a practice or plan to initiate a policy for the benefit of a third party investor who, at the time of policy origination, has no insurable interest in the insured, and includes:

  (1) Arrangements in which life insurance is purchased with resources or guarantees from or through a person or entity who at the time of policy inception, could not lawfully initiate the policy by oneself or itself, and where, at the time of inception, there is an arrangement or agreement, whether verbal or written, to directly or indirectly transfer the ownership of the policy, the policy benefits, or both, to a third party; and

  (2) Trusts created to give the appearance of insurable interest and used to initiate policies for investors. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2

• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Terminally ill: means having an illness or sickness that can reasonably be expected to result in death in twenty-four months or less. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 431C-2
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.