INSURANCE ISSUES AND VIATICAL SETTLEMENTS - PART II
Continuing with our review of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies' paper on viatical settlements, we note that the paper is broken down into 7 parts, starting with a brief introduction and an examination of typical viatical settlements. There is also a review of American academic articles and the study looked at the historical developments of viatical settlements in the U.S.
The study goes on to examine the current law in Canada and looks at leading policy arguments for and against removing the legal barriers to viatical settlements in Canada. The study also examines in detail the leading Canadian model for law reform drafted in 2001 by Ontario's Financial Services Commission. The last two parts of the study include a review of several issues for reform and a conclusion to the study paper.
The origins of the project arose out of the Program Committee of the British Columbia Law Institute, whereby they identified examining the possibility of legalizing and regulating viatical settlements as an innovative area for legal reform.
After having reviewed the study paper on viatical settlements, it is clear that, while this is an innovative area of legal reform, certainly in the United States, the concept of viatical settlements is a growing trend and one that will no doubt be considered over the next few years as the increase in population puts pressure on the market forces.
Given that viatical settlements are rare in Canada, the study paper looked at the elements of a typical viatical settlement from the United States as providing the reference point. Again, while there are different approaches in the United States, the study notes (at page 3) that one commentator who recently reviewed the American market concluded that the typical viatical settlement contains six steps.
We will look at the six steps in our next blog.
All the best, Suzana and Ian. --------
