North Carolina General Statutes 1-543.11. Definitions
For purposes of this Article:
(1) “Annuity issuer” means an insurer that has issued an annuity or insurance contract used to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement;
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 1-543.11
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- 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.
- United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) “Discounted present value” means the fair present value of future payments, as determined by discounting such payments to the present utilizing the tables adopted in Article 5 of Chapter 8 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.;
(3) “Independent professional advice” means advice of an attorney, certified public accountant, actuary, or other licensed or registered professional or financial adviser:
a. Who is engaged by a payee to render advice concerning the legal, tax, and financial implications of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights;
b. Who is not in any manner affiliated with or compensated by the transferee of such transfer; and
c. Whose compensation for rendering such advice is not affected by whether a transfer occurs or does not occur;
(4) “Interested parties” means, with respect to any structured settlement, the payee, any beneficiary designated under the annuity contract to receive payments following the payee’s death, the annuity issuer, the structured settlement obligor, and any other party that has continuing rights or obligations under the terms of the structured settlement;
(5) “Payee” means an individual who is receiving tax-free damage payments under a structured settlement and proposes to make a transfer of payment rights thereunder;
(6) “Qualified assignment agreement” means an agreement providing for a qualified assignment within the meaning of section 130 of the Internal Revenue Code, United States Code Title 26, as amended from time to time;
(7) “Responsible administrative authority” means, with respect to a structured settlement, any government authority vested by law with exclusive jurisdiction over the settled claim resolved by such structured settlement;
(8) “Settled claim” means the original tort claim resolved by a structured settlement;
(9) “Structured settlement” means an arrangement for periodic payment of damages for personal injuries established by settlement or judgment in resolution of a tort claim;
(10) “Structured settlement agreement” means the agreement, judgment, stipulation, or release embodying the terms of a structured settlement, including the rights of the payee to receive periodic payments;
(11) “Structured settlement obligor” means, with respect to any structured settlement, the party that has the continuing periodic payment obligation to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement;
(12) “Structured settlement payment rights” means rights to receive periodic payments (including lump-sum payments) under a structured settlement, whether from the settlement obligor or the annuity issuer, where:
a. The payee is domiciled in this State;
b. The structured settlement agreement was approved by a court or responsible administrative authority in this State; or
c. The settled claim was pending before the courts of this State when the parties entered into the structured settlement agreement;
(13) “Terms of the structured settlement” 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 approval of any court or responsible administrative authority or other government authority authorizing or approving such structured settlement; and
(14) “Transfer” means any sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other form of alienation or encumbrance made by a payee for consideration;
(15) “Transfer agreement” means the agreement providing for transfer of structured settlement payment rights from a payee to a transferee. (1999-367, s. 1.)