4D05-4643-Rapid Settlements v. Dickerson

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fourth District Court

Docket No: 4D05-4643

Case Date: 11/22/2006

Preview:DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT July Term 2006 RAPID SETTLEMENTS, LTD., Appellant, v. KIMBERLY DICKERSON, et al., Appellee. No. 4D05-4643 [November 22, 2006] WARNER, J. Rapid Settlements ("Rapid") appeals a final order in which the trial court denied its petition to approve the proposed transfer of structured settlement payment rights from Kimberly Dickerson to Rapid Settlements in exchange for a lump sum payment. We affirm, as the structured settlement agreement contains an anti-assignment provision, which we find valid and enforceable. The structured settlement payment rights at issue in this case arise out of a 1989 settlement agreement entered into by Kimberly Dickerson, which resolved a personal injury action filed by Ms. Dickerson and her husband. In July 2005, Rapid filed a petition with the circuit court in which Rapid requested court approval of a proposed transfer of periodic payments under Ms. Dickerson's structured settlement agreement. Pursuant to the proposed transfer, Ms. Dickerson sought to transfer to Rapid certain payments under the structured settlement. Symetra, the structured settlement obligor and annuity issuer, filed an objection to the transfer as an interested party. The trial court denied Rapid's petition, prompting this appeal. Transfers of structured settlement payment rights are regulated by statute and court approval is required before a transfer may go forward. See

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