Determination of the exact amount of various payments to be made -as well as the schedule thereof -can only be made only after a careful consideration of you needs for ongoing medical care, as well as the support needed for the you living expenses and to some extent, that of your family.

As it happens in all physical injury cases, the plaintiff and the defendant (often with the help of their attorneys, experts, structured settlement brokers, etc.) have to first arrive at a negotiated agreement on all relevant matters -including the issues such as the victim's medical care, basic living needs, and in many cases, victim's family's needs as well.

Even if you think you have a very simple case, considering the complexity and long term implications that your structured settlement agreement would have on your life, it would be in your best interest to retain the services of an experienced structured settlements attorney, and/or a structured settlement professional.

Once the long-term cost of your (and possibly your family's) ongoing needs are identified and an agreement has been reached between all concerned entities, it is usually the defendant who has to decide how those needs of the injured entities are to be met. In any event, at that point, the issue that remains to be resolved is primarily that of how the defendant is going to fund the resources that would be needed to provide a revenue stream for the injured parties. Generally speaking, an annuity is often considered to be the preferred way of funding these kinds of obligations considering the inherent pricing and flexibility that it offers. In some cases, a trust fund that invests only in United States Treasuries may also be a viable option.

The defendant usually assigns (i.e. makes a qualified assignment) away the aforementioned obligation to a third party (such as a life insurance company, or a structured settlements broker, etc) that is well versed in the administration of a structured settlement. After the aforementioned third party has satisfied itself that investments/resources need to service said structured payments annuity have been secured from the defendant, there is no need for you to be in touch with defendant any more. All serviced that are due to you -within the scope of your structured settlement agreement -will be extended to you and administered by the said third party company -which would most likely be a life insurance company, or a professional structured settlements brokerage firm.

Again, the specifics of your structured settlement are always arrived at only after consulting with you or your representative, and after carefully considering specifics of your case, your ongoing needs for health care, and your (and possibly your family's) customary living expenses.