N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-1706: Approval of transfers of structured settlement payment rights

§ 5-1706. Approval of transfers of structured settlement payment

rights. No direct or indirect transfer of structured settlement payment

rights shall be effective and no structured settlement obligor or

annuity issuer shall be required to make any payment directly or

indirectly to any transferee of structured settlement payment rights

unless the transfer has been authorized in advance in a final order of a

court of competent jurisdiction based upon express findings by such

court that:

(a) the transfer complies with the requirements of this title;

(b) the transfer is in the best interest of the payee, taking into

account the welfare and support of the payee's dependants; and whether

the transaction, including the discount rate used to determine the gross

advance amount and the fees and expenses used to determine the net

advance amount, are fair and reasonable. Provided the court makes the

findings as outlined in this subdivision, there is no requirement for

the court to find that an applicant is suffering from a hardship to

approve the transfer of structured settlement payments under this

subdivision;

(c) the payee has been advised in writing by the transferee to seek

independent professional advice regarding the transfer and has either

received such advice or knowingly waived such advice in writing;

(d) the transfer does not contravene any applicable statute or the

order of any court or other government authority; and

(e) is written in plain language and in compliance with section 5-702

of this article.