§ 1-543.11. Definitions. - North Carolina Statutes

§1‑543.11.  Definitions.

For purposes of this Article:

(1)        "Annuityissuer" means an insurer that has issued an annuity or insurance contractused to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement;

(2)        "Discountedpresent value" means the fair present value of future payments, asdetermined by discounting such payments to the present utilizing the tablesadopted in Article 5 of Chapter 8 of the General Statutes;

(3)        "Independentprofessional advice" means advice of an attorney, certified public accountant,actuary, or other licensed or registered professional or financial adviser:

a.         Who is engaged by apayee to render advice concerning the legal, tax, and financial implications ofa transfer of structured settlement payment rights;

b.         Who is not in anymanner affiliated with or compensated by the transferee of such transfer; and

c.         Whose compensationfor rendering such advice is not affected by whether a transfer occurs or doesnot occur;

(4)        "Interestedparties" means, with respect to any structured settlement, the payee, anybeneficiary designated under the annuity contract to receive payments followingthe payee's death, the annuity issuer, the structured settlement obligor, andany other party that has continuing rights or obligations under the terms ofthe structured settlement;

(5)        "Payee"means an individual who is receiving tax‑free damage payments under astructured settlement and proposes to make a transfer of payment rightsthereunder;

(6)        "Qualifiedassignment agreement" means an agreement providing for a qualifiedassignment within the meaning of section 130 of the Internal Revenue Code,United States Code Title 26, as amended from time to time;

(7)        "Responsibleadministrative authority" means, with respect to a structured settlement,any government authority vested by law with exclusive jurisdiction over thesettled claim resolved by such structured settlement;

(8)        "Settledclaim" means the original tort claim resolved by a structured settlement;

(9)        "Structuredsettlement" means an arrangement for periodic payment of damages forpersonal injuries established by settlement or judgment in resolution of a tortclaim;

(10)      "Structuredsettlement agreement" means the agreement, judgment, stipulation, orrelease embodying the terms of a structured settlement, including the rights ofthe payee to receive periodic payments;

(11)      "Structuredsettlement obligor" means, with respect to any structured settlement, theparty that has the continuing periodic payment obligation to the payee under astructured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement;

(12)      "Structuredsettlement payment rights" means rights to receive periodic payments(including lump‑sum payments) under a structured settlement, whether fromthe settlement obligor or the annuity issuer, where:

a.         The payee isdomiciled in this State;

b.         The structuredsettlement agreement was approved by a court or responsible administrativeauthority in this State; or

c.         The settled claimwas pending before the courts of this State when the parties entered into thestructured settlement agreement;

(13)      "Terms of thestructured settlement" include, with respect to any structured settlement,the terms of the structured settlement agreement, the annuity contract, anyqualified assignment agreement, and any order or approval of any court orresponsible administrative authority or other government authority authorizingor approving such structured settlement; and

(14)      "Transfer"means any sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other form of alienationor encumbrance made by a payee for consideration;

(15)      "Transferagreement" means the agreement providing for transfer of structuredsettlement payment rights from a payee to a transferee. (1999‑367,s. 1.)