Volume 1, Issue 9                    The Traut Firm eNewsletter              Sept, 2005            www.trautfirm.com

Planning for the future after a catastrophic injury or death

May 1999, San Diego, California …….

Barry was wrongfully killed in a motorcycle accident while on his way to work.  Barry’s wife, Linda was a full-time, stay-at home mother of four attending night school to become a nurse.  Both were actively involved in the lives of their children all minor children, twins 4 years old, 7 and 9.

A structured settlement established for Linda helped her:

• Secure her family’s financial future with tax-free income
• Support and raise her four boys with monthly support payments
• Finance her children’s college tuition and expenses
• Put her family first, instead of a job.

Since the inception of structured settlements in 1979, thousands of claimants have found them to be a sensible, effective method of managing their damage awards. Structured Settlements provide security like no other financial product. Simply defined, structured settlements involve the payment of damages over time.

The payments may be scheduled for any length of time, including a lifetime to meet the plaintiff’s future needs.  Periodic payments often include:

• Education funds,

• Replacement of monthly income for medical and financial needs,

• Retirement income,

• Mortgage payments

Structured Settlements are governed by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).  Under Section 104(a) (2) of the IRC, compensation received because of a personal physical injury or sickness is not included in gross income and is therefore exempt from income tax.

Due to the tax-free treatment of the payments, the rate of return is often more competitive than if the plaintiff took the money and invested it themselves.  The payments are made by highly rated Life Insurance Companies. 

Appropriate cases include minor children, disabled adults, brain injury victims, quadriplegics, paraplegics, wrongful death survivors, those involving loss of income, class action member and mass tort victims.

The Traut Firm works with structured settlement companies who work as brokers to obtain the best interest rate possible and only purchase the policies through A.M. Best A+ rated insurance companies.

The Traut Firm
"When You Mean Business"