Nebraska § 25-3103 - Terms, defined.

§ 25-3103. Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Structured Settlements Transfers Protection Act:

(1) Annuity issuer means an insurer that has issued a contract to be used to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement;

(2) Applicable federal rate means the most recently published applicable rate used to determine the present value of an annuity, as issued by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to section 7520 of the Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 49-801.01;

(3) Dependent means a payee's spouse and minor children and any other family member and other person for whom the payee is legally obligated to provide support, including spousal maintenance;

(4) Discount or finance charge means the sum of all charges payable directly or indirectly from assigned structured settlement payments and imposed directly or indirectly by the transferee as an incident to a transfer of structured settlement payment rights. Discount or finance charge includes interest charges, discounts, and other compensation for the time value of money, all application, origination, processing, underwriting, closing, filing, and notary fees and all similar charges, and all charges for commissions or brokerage services. Discount or finance charge does not include any fee or other obligation incurred by a payee to obtain independent professional advice concerning a transfer of structured settlement payment rights or any charges, commissions, costs, brokerage fees, or other fees which the payee has agreed to pay to a nonaffiliated third party in connection with the transfer;

(5) Discounted present value means, with respect to a proposed transfer of structured settlement payment rights, the fair present value of future payments, as determined by discounting the payments to the present using the most recently published applicable federal rate used to determine the present value of an annuity as the discount rate;

(6) Interested parties means, with respect to any structured settlement:

(a) The payee;

(b) Any beneficiary irrevocably designated under the annuity contract to receive payments following the payee's death or, if such designated beneficiary is a minor, the designated beneficiary's parent or guardian;

(c) The annuity issuer;

(d) The structured settlement obligor; and

(e) Any other party that has continuing rights or obligations under the structured settlement;

(7) Payee means a Nebraska resident who is receiving tax-free payments under a structured settlement and proposes to make a transfer of payment rights under the structured settlement. Payee does not include a Nebraska resident who is receiving payments under a structured settlement of a workers' compensation claim;

(8) Qualified assignment agreement means an agreement providing for a qualified assignment within the meaning of section 130 of the Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 49-801.01;

(9) Structured settlement means an arrangement for periodic payment of damages for personal injuries or sickness established by a settlement, agreement, or judgment in resolution of a tort claim;

(10) Structured settlement obligor means the party that has the obligation to make continuing periodic payments to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement;

(11) 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 if the payee is a resident in the state;

(12) Transfer means a sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other form of alienation or encumbrance made by a payee for consideration;

(13) Transfer agreement means the agreement providing for transfer of structured settlement payment rights from a payee to a transferee; and

(14) Transferee means a person who is receiving or will receive structured settlement payment rights resulting from a transfer.