Unstructured Settlement

Me'Lisa Delaney, 43, is brain-injured as a result of a 1984 medical error that caused a stroke during surgery. The hospital agreed to settle via a structured settlement, as overseen by a county conservatorship.

Delaney soon married Terry, who took over the conservatorship of the settlement and proceeded to make loans against the settlement, which equaled about $350,000. It wasn't long before all the money was gone. According to the civil complaint filed by Me'Lisa, Terry had used the loan money to purchase "controlled substances, illegal drugs, jewelry, liquor and other non-business items." Of course Delaney is suing for 10 million in punitive damages.

A lot of time energy, and effort was put into structuring a settlement in the best interest of Me'Lisa and it was too easily undone. Should we consider making settlements "unstructurable"? There is some concern that "factoring" or "cash out" companies take advantage of customers, taking a large portion of the settlement in exchange for a significantly smaller lump sum.

In Me'Lisa's case it makes sense to put in place more safeguards to protect her rights and interests in her settlement, specifically because she is brain injured. We should look to protect minors, senior citizens, and mentally impaired or injured settlement winners. Everyone else has access to resources and information to help them make the best choices and should be entitled to choose whatever they wish. I personally know of cases where cashing out was life saving, dream fulfilling, and absolutely a positive choice. I am also personally aware of situations where customers have cashed out their settlements and it was absolutely a bad decision. Unstructuring a settlement seems to be a great American Freedom, but it doesn't have to be as morally insipid as what happened in the Delaney case.

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Traumatic Brain Injury Settlements

A brain injury can be simply defined as anything that upsets the brain's function. It may be a hit or blow to the head or something that penetrates the skull, therefore damaging the brain. The primary causes of brain injuries include falling with the head hitting the ground, motor vehicle and automobile accidents, and assault. In the military, hits and blast injuries to the head are the major cause of brain injuries. More severe brain injuries can cause coma, stupor, or a persistent vegetative state.

Some of the key indicators that you may have a brain injury include:

- Headaches. This is recognized by frequent headache attacks, pain in the forehead or back of the head, and episodes of sharp pain.

- Memory loss that involves asking the same question over and over again, short-term memory difficulties, and frequent forgetfulness.

- Vocabulary problems or having a hard time coming up with the right word to say.

- Fatigue. This is demonstrated by emotional and physical tiredness.

- Sleep changes with signs of being awake throughout the night, waking up too early in the morning, and not being able to fall sleep right away.

- Emotional changes like being angry, sad, scared, or combinations of these every now and then.

- Stimulus overload involves an overwhelming feeling in busy, crowded, and noisy places.

- Concentration and distraction problems. This involves not staying focused and can easily cause attention disorders.

- Organizational difficulties make you unable to organize your thoughts and complete your tasks and activities.

The human brain is sensitive and vulnerable. If an object hits you in the head or if your head strikes a hard surface, you will most likely suffer from serious brain injury. Even if there are no obvious symptoms, you should seek medical attention immediately.

If your brain injury was due to a negligent act of another person or an institution, seek advice from lawyers who are experienced in traumatic brain injury settlements so they may help you recover monetary compensations for your brain injury and other costs regarding your accident.

Annuity Settlement Options

Which Debt Can Be Settled? :annuity settlement options

We receive many questions regarding debt settlement and specially inquiries as to whether certain debts can be settled or not. This is an important issue as not all debts can be settled with regular debt repair agencies. And thus, prior to hiring the services of such agencies you need to make sure that your particular debts are suitable for settlement or else you would be just wasting money.

Under the right circumstances all debt can be settled, but debt repair agencies deal only with certain types of debt. Following is a short description of the different types of debt that qualify for a debt elimination process through an agency and those debt types that do not qualify for regular debt elimination processes and need different solutions in order to be cancelled or erased.

Debt Types That Qualify For Debt Settlement

The first type of debt that we will briefly explain is credit card debt. Credit card debt is in most cases unsecured debt that features high interest rates compared to other form of debts. Thus, it is extremely important to include this kind of debt in any debt settlement program. Credit card debt certainly qualifies for this type of debt aid due to its unsecured nature and the repayment flexibility it presents.

The same goes to store card debt. Just like credit card debt, store card debt is unsecured debt and usually charges higher interest rates than credit card debt and personal loans. Thus, it should also be included into a debt aid program.

Personal loans, if unsecured can also qualify for debt settlement. This is due to the fact that if the lender refuses to negotiate, he would have to undertake long legal processes to recover the money and he would also be forced to negotiate prior and during the process with costly legal fees. Of course, this applies to unsecured personal loans only and not secured loans.

Different bills, like hospital bills and other services' bills can also be included in a debt elimination program. They are usually included because the debt is unsecured and because the creditor has less negotiating power than banks and other big companies. Thus, it is easier for a negotiator to convince the creditor that he should accept the deal or he might lose the chances of getting any money back at all.

Debt Types That Do Not Qualify For Debt Settlement

There are other debt types that cannot be settled. These debts include: student loans which can be consolidated, waived or forgiven but never settled. The only exceptions are certain private student loans which are not subsidized by the government or a private non-profit institution and thus are subject to the rules of any personal unsecured loan.

Mortgage loans and home equity loans are guaranteed by a property or the equity on that property and thus are not subject to negotiation because the lender can always resort to request the foreclosure of the property and claim all the money owed. The solution for these debts is refinancing which can modify the terms of the secured debt while keeping the security in place.

Car loans which are secured on the car are just like mortgage loans, and with only a few differences, are tied to the same rules. Just like mortgage loans, car loans can be refinanced or fully paid off with the aid of a mortgage or home equity loan. Thus, to solve a debt problem derived from a car loan your main options are debt consolidation and refinancing.

Finally, tax debts can't be settled either. There are some circumstances in which under special hardship, a debt can be forgiven by the government agency. However, these are very special situations with complex requirements. And often, they imply that the debtor has to resort to extreme measures like filing for bankruptcy.

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