An arrangement whereby a person with a terminal illness sells their life insurance policy to a third party for less than its mature value, in order to benefit from the proceeds while alive.
‘In a viatical settlement, a person with a terminal disease sells his or her life insurance policy at a discount from its face value in exchange for ready cash.’
‘The tax treatment of a viatical settlement is markedly different.’
‘While the ads for viatical settlement firms focused on impending death, those for drug companies focused on prolonging life - better living through science.’
‘Developing expertise in long-term care insurance, medi-gap insurance, reverse mortgages and viatical settlements, along with their uses, can serve your older clients well.’
‘Ms. Investor was looking for safety, with little risk, when she invested in these viatical settlements.’
‘Thanks to Ontario's passing of the Red Tape Reduction Act, viatical settlements, otherwise known as ‘death futures,’ will be making Ontario's critically ill a hot investment for U.S. brokerage firms.’
Origin
1990s viatical from Latin viaticus ‘relating to a journey or departing’ + -al.
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