noun

• 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.

  See also death futures

  ‘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.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘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.’