Life insurance settlements, which began during 1980s, refer to purchase of existing life insurance policies of either senior citizens or ill people. For example, if an insurance policy holder is in bad need of money for the treatment of his serious disease like cancer, heart problem or AIDS, he/she can opt for life insurance settlements with some other people. They will sell their policies to the highest bidder and get around 50 to 60 percent of the face value of the policy, which they can use for the treatment and the purchase of expensive drugs. Even senior citizens over 65 years of age can sell their policies to others for the amount more than the cash surrender value. There are some companies who have expertise in the business of purchasing existing policies from senior citizens. Therefore depending on the purpose of the sale, one can categorize life insurance settlements into Viatical settlements and Senior Settlements. Further life settlements have become a very important tool for many areas as under.

Bankruptcy

Sometimes in case of insolvency situations, the policyholders may sell their policies to meet their obligations to their creditors. Even the companies which are under turn around stage can sell the insurance policies which they think no longer needed.

Trust or Estate Planning

Whenever any trust is finding difficulty in paying premiums of the trust