Motion for Writ in J.G. Wentworth Originations, Llc v. Lincoln National Life Insurance Company F/K/A Lincoln Life Assurance Company Of Boston, Lincoln Assignment Corporation F/K/A Liberty Assignment Corporation, Yurhyness Evans| Trellis.Law

On March 27, 2024 a Complaint,Petition was filed involving a dispute between J.G. Wentworth Originations, Llc, and Lincoln Assignment Corporation F K A Liberty Assignment Corporation, Lincoln National Life Insurance Company F K A Lincoln Life Assurance Company Of Boston, Yurhyness Evans, for Special Proceedings - Other (Structured Settlement Tra) in the District Court of Onondaga County.

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FILED: ONONDAGA COUNTY CLERK 03/27/2024 03:35 PM INDEX NO. 003222/2024
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/27/2024

STATE OF NEW YORK
SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF ONONDAGA
______________________________________________________________________________________

In the Matter of the Petition of

J.G. WENTWORTH ORIGINATIONS, LLC,

PETITION
Petitioner,
Index No.
and

LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY F/K/A LINCOLN LIFE
ASSURANCE COMPANY OF BOSTON, LINCOLN ASSIGNMENT
CORPORATION F/K/A LIBERTY ASSIGNMENT CORPORATION, AND
YURHYNESS EVANS,

as Interested Persons pursuant to GOL § 5-1701(c).
______________________________________________________________________________________

Petitioner, J.G. Wentworth Originations, LLC, by its attorneys, Napierski,

VanDenburgh, Napierski & O’Connor, LLP, respectfully shows and alleges:

1. This is a special proceeding pursuant to The Structured Settlement

Protection Act, New York State General Obligations Law (hereinafter referred to

as “GOL”) § 5-1701 et seq. seeking approval of the transfer of certain structured

settlement payment rights due under a structured settlement agreement, in

accordance with 26 U.S.C. § 5891 et seq. and GOL § 5-1701 et seq.

2. Petitioner, J.G. Wentworth Originations, LLC, is a limited liability

company organized under the laws of the State of Nevada, with its principal place

of business located at 3993 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 250, Las Vegas,

Nevada 89109 and authorized to conduct business in New York and is a

“transferee” as defined in GOL § 5-1701(t).

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3. Certain entities are deemed to be “interested parties” to this Petition

as defined in GOL § 5-1701(f); pursuant to GOL § 5-1705(c) they are to be served

at least 20 days prior to a petition being heard with copies of said Petition and the

Order to Show Cause.

4. The “interested parties” named as respondents herein are:

a. Yurhyness Evans, a competent adult individual domiciled in

Onondaga, a “payee” as defined in GOL § 5-1701(h).

b. Lincoln Assignment Corporation f/k/a Liberty Assignment

Corporation, an insurance company, which, upon information and belief, is

domiciled in, and has its principal place of business at 2801 US 280, Birmingham,

AL 35223 and is licensed and authorized to do business in New York and is a

“structured settlement obligor” as defined in GOL § 5-1701(n) in connection with

the structured settlement payment rights at issue in this proceeding.

c. Lincoln National Life Insurance Company f/k/a Lincoln Life

Assurance Company of Boston is an insurance company which, upon information

and belief, is domiciled in and has its principal place of business at 2801 US 280,

Birmingham, AL 35223 and is licensed and authorized to do business in New York

and is an “annuity issuer” as defined in GOL § 5-1701(a) in connection with the

structured settlement payment rights at issue in this proceeding.

5. Yurhyness Evans is not married and has no minor dependents ; the

beneficiary of the structured settlement payment rights, which are the subject of

this proceeding, is his estate. See accompanying affirmation of Yurhyness Evans

at ¶¶ 5 & 10.

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6. Yurhyness Evans was formerly the plaintiff in a personal injury action

for injuries arising out of an accident.

7. Yurhyness Evans’s claim was resolved through a settlement that

provided for a series of deferred cash payments to him under a “structured

settlement” as defined in GOL § 5-1791(l) and 26 U.S.C. § 5891(c)(1). A copy of

Proof of Annuity is annexed hereto as Exhibit “A.”

8. The structured settlement was the subject of a “qualified assignment”

pursuant to Internal Revenue Code §§ 104 and 130, 26 U.S.C. §§ 104 and 130,

as a result of which Lincoln Assignment Corporation f/k/a Liberty Assignment

Corporation assumed the liabilities of the settlement obligor to make the payments

provided for under the structured settlement.

9. Lincoln Assignment Corporation f/k/a Liberty Assignment

Corporation funded its obligation to make such payments as settlement obligor

through the purchase of an annuity contract from respondent Lincoln National Life

Insurance Company f/k/a Lincoln Life Assurance Company of Boston.

10. Pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 5891(a), any transfer of structured

settlement payment rights pursuant to a transfer agreement entered into after July

1, 2002, subjects the transferee (i.e., the purchaser of the structured settlement

payment rights) to an excise tax unless the transfer has been approved by, inter

alia, a court of the state in which the payee of the structured settlement is domiciled

through the issuance of a “qualified order,” which is defined as an order issued

pursuant to the terms of a statute regulating the transfer of structured settlement

transfer rights enacted by the state in which the payee is domiciled or the settled

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case was litigated. The Structured Settlement Protection Act, GOL § 5-1701 et

seq. is such a statute.

11. New York State Insurance Law § 3212(d) provides that any

purported limitations upon transfer in an annuity contract funding a structured

settlement are ineffective if the transfer has been approved pursuant to GOL § 5-

1701 et seq.

12. Upon information and belief, Yurhyness Evans seeks to sell, assign

or transfer to Petitioner, J.G. Wentworth Originations, LLC, certain payments

remaining under the structured settlement agreement pursuant to the terms of a

“transfer agreement” as defined in GOL § 5-1701(r) entered into on March 22, 2024.

A copy of the said transfer agreement is annexed hereto as Exhibit “B.” It is a

condition of said transfer agreement that the transfer be approved by a court and

under an order which must be recognized and honored by both Lincoln Assignment

Corporation f/k/a Liberty Assignment Corporation, the settlement obligor, and

Lincoln National Life Insurance Company f/k/a Lincoln Life Assurance Company

of Boston, the annuity issuer.

13. Upon information and belief, Yurhyness Evans has previously

transferred or attempted to transfer payments under the structured settlement

agreement. See Stipulation of Discontinuance dated February 21, 2024, annexed

hereto as Exhibit “C”.

14. All disclosure requirements of GOL § 5-1703 have been complied

with by providing, not less than ten days prior to the date on which Payee executed

the transfer agreement, the disclosure statement in 14 point bold type containing

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disclosures in plain language the information required therein, namely (See Exhibit

“A” to the accompanying affirmation of Yurhyness Evans).

a. the amounts and due dates of the structured settlement

payments to be transferred;

b. the aggregate amount of such payments;

c. the discounted present value of the payments to be

transferred which shall be identified as the “calculation of current value of the

transferred structured settlement payments under federal standards for valuing

annuities”, and the amount of the applicable federal rate used in calculating such

discounted present value;

d. the price quote from the original annuity issuer or, if such price

quote is not readily available from the original annuity issuer, then a price quote

from two other annuity issuers that reflects the current cost of purchasing a

comparable annuity for the aggregate amount of payments to be transferred;

e. the gross advance amount and the annual discount rate,

compounded monthly, used to determine such figures;

f. an itemized listing of all commissions, fees, costs, expenses

and charges payable by the payee or deductible from the gross amount otherwise

payable to the payee and the total amount of such fees;

g. the net advance amount including the statement: “The net

cash payment you receive in this transaction from the buyer was determined by

applying the specified discount rate to the amount of future payments received by

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the buyer, less the total amount of commissions, fees, costs, expenses and

charges payable by you”;

h. the amount of any penalties or liquidated damages payable

by the payee in the event of any breach of the transfer agreement by the payee;

and

i. a statement that the payee has the right to cancel the transfer

agreement, without penalty or further obligation, not later than the third business

day after the date the agreement is signed by the payee.

15. The transfer complies with all requirements and standards of the

Federal Statute and Pub.L.107-134, Title 1, § 115(c)(3)(A); in that:

a. For the reasons shown in the accompanying affirmation of the

payee, Yurhyness Evans, the transfer is in the best interests of the Payee or is

appropriate in light of the hardships payee faces; and

b. The transfer does not contravene any Federal or State statute

or the order of any court or responsible administrative authority.

16. The transfer complies with all requirements and standards of GOL §

5-1701 et seq. in that

a. It complies with all requirements of the Structured Settlement

Protection Act, GOL § 5-1701 et seq.;

b. For the reasons shown in the accompanying affirmation of the

payee, Yurhyness Evans, the transfer is in the best interests of the payee, taking

into account the welfare and support of the payee’s dependents, and the

transaction, including the discount rate used to determine the gross advance

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amount and the fees and expenses used to determine the net advance amount, is

fair and reasonable;

c. The payee, Yurhyness Evans, has been advised in writing by

the transferee to seek independent professional advice regarding the transfer and

has waived such advice in writing (See accompanying affirmation of Yurhyness

Evans at ¶ 9; and Exhibit “B” attached thereto).

d. The transfer does not contravene any applicable statute or the

order of any court of other government authority, and both the transfer agreement

and all disclosures are written in plain language and in compliance with GOL § 5-

702 as required by GOL § 5-1706(e).

WHEREFORE, pursuant to GOL § 5-1701, et seq., Petitioner respectfully

requests that this Court enter an Order approving the transfer, based upon findings

that (i) it is in compliance with the requirements of 26 U.S.C. § 5891 and Pub.L.107-

134, Title 1, § 115; and GOL § 5-1701 et seq.; (ii) the transfer is in the best interest

of the payee, taking into account the welfare and support of payee’s dependents

and 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, is fair and reasonable; (iii) the payee has been advised in writing by the

transferee to seek independent professional advice regarding the transfer and has

received such advice; (iv) the transfer does not contravene any applicable statute

or order of any court or other government authority; and (v) the transfer agreement,

disclosure and related documents are written in plain language and in compliance

with GOL § 5-702 as required by GOL § 5-1706(e) and, directing Interested Parties

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Lincoln National Life Insurance Company f/k/a Lincoln Life Assurance Company

of Boston and Lincoln Assignment Corporation f/k/a Liberty Assignment

Corporation to recognize and honor the terms of the transfer agreement to

Petitioner, J.G. Wentworth Originations, LLC, or its assigns and to make payment

of the structured settlement payments that are the subject of this proceeding to

Petitioner, J.G. Wentworth Originations, LLC, or its assigns.

Dated: March 26, 2024

NAPIERSKI, VANDENBURGH,
NAPIERSKI & O’CONNOR, L. L. P.

BY: ____________________________
SHAWN F. BROUSSEAU
Attorneys for Petitioner
Office & P.O. Address
296 Washington Avenue Ext., Ste. 3
Albany, New York 12203
Telephone: (518)862-9292
Facsimile: (518)862-1519
Email: sfb@nvnolaw.com

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Case Info

Judge

Robert E. Antonacci Track Judge’s New Case

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Document Filed Date

March 27, 2024

Case Filing Date

March 27, 2024

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Complaint,Petition: J.G. Wentworth Originations, Llc v. Lincoln National Life Insurance Company F/K/A Lincoln Life Assurance Company Of Boston, Lincoln Assignment Corporation F/K/A Liberty Assignment Corporation, Yurhyness Evans

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