Before the first call it is worth having four things in front of you, because a buyer will ask for all of them and the quality of the answer you get depends on them. Most delay in this market is not the court; it is a payee trying to reconstruct a settlement from memory while a clock runs on an offer.
What to have in front of you
The settlement agreement, the annuity policy or benefits letter from the issuer, a recent payment record showing what actually arrives and when, and a note of anything you have sold before. Previous transfers matter: a court will see them, and a pattern of repeat sales is exactly what a best-interest test is designed to look at. Knowing which payments are guaranteed and which are life-contingent will also change the quotes you are given.
Deciding how much to sell
Almost nobody needs to sell everything, and almost every first offer is for everything. Work out the sum you actually need, then ask for a partial transfer quote that raises it - a defined block of payments, usually the nearest ones, leaving the rest intact. The discount then applies to a fraction of the stream and your long-term income survives. If a buyer will not quote a partial transfer, that tells you something about the buyer.
What a New York court has to find
New York is the statute on this record that looks hardest at the money. The court must find the transfer is in the best interest of the payee, taking into account the welfare and support of the payee's dependants, and whether the transaction, including the discount rate used to determine the gross advance amount and the fees and expenses used to determine the net advance amount, are fair and reasonable. It also requires the payee to have been advised to seek independent professional advice and the agreement to be written in plain language.
Questions people ask about sell my structured settlement
Does a court really have to approve this?
Yes, in every state. The federal exception in 26 U.S.C. 5891(b) applies only where the transfer was approved in advance in a qualified order, and the order must find the transfer is in the best interest of the payee, taking into account the welfare and support of the payee's dependents.
What is the single biggest variable in the price?
The discount rate, and after that how far in the future the payments you are selling fall due. The reported range across the market is between 9% and 18%.
Do you take a share of what I get?
No. Buyers pay a flat fee for the enquiry itself, never a share of the discount and never anything contingent on a transfer completing.