Arizona Laws 12-587. Funding judgments for periodic installments
A. Each party liable for all or a portion of a judgment containing periodic installments shall provide funding, separately or jointly, for the unpaid installments in a form prescribed in section 12-588. The funding shall be provided not later than the date the judgment is subject to execution or not later than thirty days after the judgment is entered, whichever is later, unless it is superseded or the power to execute on the judgment is otherwise suspended.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 12-587
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Claimant: means a person suffering bodily injury, a person claiming on behalf of or as a result of bodily injury to another person, the representative of the estate of a deceased person or a beneficiary of a wrongful death action. See Arizona Laws 12-581
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Future damages: means economic loss and noneconomic loss arising from bodily injury that accrues after trial of a claim under this article. See Arizona Laws 12-581
- 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.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
B. A liability insurer having a contractual obligation or a person adjudged to have an obligation to pay all or part of a judgment entered for periodic installments is obligated to provide funding to the extent of the contractual or adjudged obligation. In determining if a judgment containing periodic installments for future damages exceeds limits under a liability insurance policy, the installments for future damages in the judgment shall be discounted to present value under section 12-589 to compute the lump sum value. The lump sum value or the cost of an annuity which would satisfy the funding requirement for installments of future damages, whichever is less, must be added to the total of any lump sum damages contained in the judgment for each claimant. The amount so computed shall be compared to applicable limits under the policy.
C. A judgment creditor or successor in interest and any party having rights under subsection E of this section may at any time subsequent to the judgment request the court to find that funding was not provided or maintained with regard to a judgment obligation owing to the requesting party. If the court finds that such funding as required by the judgment was not provided, the court shall order that funding be provided within the time ordered by the court. If such funding as required by the judgment is not provided within the time specified by the court, the court shall compute the lump sum equivalent of the obligation under section 12-589 and enter a judgment for that amount in favor of the requesting party.
D. If a person who is the only person liable for a portion of a judgment for periodic installments fails to provide or maintain funding, the right to a lump sum judgment under subsection C of this section applies only against that person and the portion of the judgment owed.
E. If more than one person is liable for all or a portion of periodic installments ordered by the judgment, and the required funding is provided by one or more but fewer than all of the persons liable, those providing funding may bring an action to satisfy or protect rights of reimbursement from a person not providing funding. If a person who has provided funding seeks to enforce rights for funding against a nonfunding person, the court may order the nonfunding person to indemnify those providing funding for a proportionate share of the cost of the funding provided or of the cost of an annuity as provided in section 12-588 which would satisfy the funding requirement.
F. If funding approved by the court has been provided, the judgment debtor on whose behalf the funding is provided is discharged and any lien against the judgment debtor is released. A liability insurer providing funding that meets the requirements of section 12-588 on behalf of a judgment debtor, to the extent it is obligated to do so under any applicable liability insurance contract, is deemed to have satisfied its duty to pay damages.
G. The court in which a trial is conducted under this article shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this section if a judgment for periodic installments is entered.