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A structured settlement is a general term that means that the proceeds of the settlement will be paid into a trust or other annuity vehicle that will pay the injured payments over a period of time, 5 years, 10 years, etc. The struture can be put together in any number of ways, its only limited by your imagination. The structure can allow the insurance company to make contributions over a certain period of time, making payment easier on them. The structure can include a reserve for minor children and pay a portion of the annuitized settlement proceeds to the minor when s/he attends college or some other mile stone. Its, in extremely basic terms, an annuity set up by the defendant to pay the plaintiff to make sure they do not burn through their settlement proceeds in a year or two and try to come back at them. At least that is one reason, not the only. The term is the same for all tort actions, and if you can think of a reason to have one, you would use the same term in business transaction actions. There just usually is not a need for one in commercial litigation, at least none I have come across or can think of. But, my response before was a general one, in response to a very broad question you asked. And, yes, in my humble opinion the considerations are generally the same in most kinds of personal injury actions.
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