D.__Notification that any interested party is entitled to support, oppose or otherwise respond to the transferee's application, either in person or by counsel, by submitting written comments to the court or responsible administrative authority or by participating in the hearing; and

E.__Notification of the time and place of the hearing and notification of the manner in which and the time by which written responses to the application must be filed, which may be not less than 30 days after service of the transferee's notice, in order to be considered by the court or responsible administrative authority.

§2244.__Prohibitions

1.__Prohibition against waiver.__The provisions of this chapter may not be waived.

2.__Prohibition against penalty.__A payee who proposes to make a transfer of structured settlement payment rights may not incur a penalty, forfeit an application fee or other payment or otherwise incur any liability to the proposed transferee based on the failure of that transfer to satisfy the conditions of section 2242.

§2245.__Construction

Nothing contained in this chapter may be construed to authorize a transfer of structured settlement payment rights in contravention of applicable law or to give effect to a transfer of structured settlement payment rights that is invalid under applicable law.

SUMMARY

The settlement of many different types of claims often involves the use of a structured settlement. A structured settlement is an agreement whereby one party receives a series of payments over a specified term instead of one payment. Structured settlements must always be agreed to by a plaintiff and a particular defendant in a lawsuit. The purpose of this bill is to protect individuals who have entered into a structured settlement agreement from various companies and individuals who buy the structure, usually at a dramatically reduced cost. The bill establishes procedures and protections pursuant to which such transactions may occur.