Useful Information About Viatical

Viatical is the sale of a life insurance policy by anare cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's
individual who is terminally ill to a third party, in returndisease.
for a percentage of the face amount of the policy. AThe technique can bring valuable benefits, but
"viator" is the person selling the policy, and theunscrupulous operators sometimes take unfair
process is known as "viaticating" of the policy.advantage of sick people. There are always ethical
People take part in viatical settlements because theyimplications when health organizations or doctors
cannot afford their life insurance premiums, or theybecome involved. One who has purchased the policy
need some extra money to cover their expenses. Ifis actually betting on how long the seller will live, since
you are facing either of the situations mentionedhe has to continue to pay the premiums until the
above, a viatical settlement may be right for you.seller of the policy dies. So some people have aptly
Viatical settlements began taking the form of annamed these buys "death futures."
industry only in the mid-1980s, although selling a lifeAs a result of extensive marketing campaigns and
insurance policy to a third party is not a very recentaggressive recruiting practices, advisors and
development. The onset of the AIDS epidemicconsumers are becoming increasingly aware of this
created a niche for this market. Although the schemeproduct, both as a planning option and as a potential
developed to help people with AIDS, it has sincescam. But some surveys show that the popularity of
been extended to any terminally ill person needingthis scheme has begun to wane, as the treatments
money. Some of the other diseases that arefor AIDS have begun to show a certain degree of
considered potential sources of viatical transactionssuccess, thus increasing life expectancy.