This structured settlement payment table separates entries by guaranteed-period and life-contingent payout parameters. It is designed to help you cross-reference your existing annuity contract, payment schedule, or tax preparation files to line up row-level data consistently across all of your documentation. You can use this framework to flag discrepancies between your personal records and statements sent by your annuity servicer, or to organize data before submitting a request to your settlement administrator. All values entered here are for your personal record-keeping only, and any formal changes to your payout schedule must be approved directly by your annuity issuer.
Settlement Desk
Guaranteed-period end date column
This column lists the final calendar date that a payout is guaranteed to be issued to you or your designated beneficiary, regardless of the original payee’s life status. You should pull this date directly from the signed, court-approved structured settlement agreement, not from informal payment reminders, text alerts, or verbal statements from third parties, as only formal documented terms are legally binding. If the guaranteed period ends after the original payee’s passing, all remaining guaranteed payments are disbursed to the named beneficiary on file with the annuity issuer. Illustrative example: a 10-year guaranteed period starting January 1, 2025 would have a guaranteed end date of December 31, 2034. You should cross-check this date against three independent sources: your original settlement paperwork, your most recent official servicer statement, and any beneficiary designation forms on file to avoid mismatches that could delay payments to your heirs. If you have lost your original agreement, you can request a certified copy from the court that approved the settlement, or directly from your annuity issuer, for a nominal processing fee in most cases. Store the certified copy in the same file folder as your completed payment schedule, so you can access both quickly if you need to verify terms with a financial professional or servicer. Partial lump sum advances do not change the guaranteed end date unless a formal modification has been filed and approved by the issuer, so be sure to keep a physical copy of any approved modifications with your core settlement files.
Life-contingent payment row checkbox
This checkbox is used to flag payment rows that are only issued if the original payee is alive on the scheduled payment date. These payments cease immediately upon the payee’s passing, with no remaining benefits owed to beneficiaries, unless a separate, explicitly documented rider is attached to the annuity contract. You should mark this checkbox for every applicable individual row, not just at the top of a section, to avoid misclassification when sorting or filtering your spreadsheet for tax preparation or financial planning purposes. Illustrative example: if your agreement includes 10 years of guaranteed payments followed by 15 years of life-contingent payments, every row for payments issued after December 31, 2034 would have this checkbox marked. Misclassifying a life-contingent payment as guaranteed can lead to incorrect financial planning projections, especially if you are accounting for payouts that may cease earlier than expected if the payee passes away before the scheduled payment date. If you are unsure whether a payment is life-contingent, you can request a written clarification from your annuity servicer, and keep a copy of that response with your settlement records. Settlement Desk provides this column template for record-keeping purposes only, and cannot classify your payments or verify their status for you.
Payout start date entry box
This entry field is for the official first date that payouts under your specific structured settlement agreement are scheduled to begin, as stated in your original court-approved settlement documents. This date may differ from the date you receive your first payment, if there are processing delays, mail delivery timelines, or administrative hold periods, so always use the contract date for record-keeping consistency to avoid alignment errors across your documents. If you have multiple tiers of payouts (e.g., an initial lump sum, followed by annual payments, followed by a deferred lump sum), each tier will have its own payout start date, which you should enter in the corresponding row for that tier’s payments. Illustrative example: a deferred payout tier scheduled to begin 20 years after settlement execution would have a start date of July 1, 2044 if the settlement was executed on July 1, 2024. If your settlement includes a provision that the start date is tied to a specific life event, such as the payee graduating from college or reaching the age of 65, you should enter the conditional date listed in the agreement, and add a note in the payment tier classification section to document the triggering event. Once the triggering event occurs and the servicer confirms the official start date, you can update the entry box to reflect the final confirmed date, and attach a copy of the servicer’s confirmation to your schedule. You should format all dates as MM/DD/YYYY to avoid confusion across different spreadsheet software and document management systems.
Annual payout amount schedule
This schedule lists each payment row with aligned parameters, so you can sort by guaranteed end date, life-contingent status, or payout start date to match entries to your servicer statements quickly. You can add as many rows as needed to cover all payment tiers in your agreement, and save a copy of this schedule both digitally (in a password-protected folder) and in a physical file folder with your original settlement paperwork. All amounts listed are pre-tax, unless your agreement specifies otherwise, and you should consult a licensed tax preparer to determine any applicable withholding requirements for your payments. You can add additional columns to this table as needed for your personal record-keeping, such as a column for the date the payment was received, a column for the amount of tax withheld, or a column for the account the payment was deposited into, but do not modify the core columns included here, as they align with the standard formatting used by most annuity servicers and tax preparers. Settlement Desk does not verify the accuracy of the amounts you enter, so always cross-reference against official issuer documents before using this schedule for any formal purpose.
| Row ID | Guaranteed-Period End Date | Life-Contingent Payment (Checkbox) | Payout Start Date (Tier Specific) | Annual Payout Amount | Payment Tier Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12/31/2034 | ☐ | 01/01/2025 | $22,500 | Guaranteed 10-Year Annual Tier |
| 2 | 12/31/2034 | ☐ | 01/01/2025 | $22,500 | Guaranteed 10-Year Annual Tier |
| 3 | N/A | ☑ | 01/01/2035 | $27,000 | Life-Contingent Post-Guarantee Tier |
| 4 | N/A | ☑ | 01/01/2035 | $27,000 | Life-Contingent Post-Guarantee Tier |
| 5 | 06/30/2044 | ☐ | 07/01/2044 | $150,000 | Deferred Guaranteed Lump Sum Tier |
All amounts entered in this schedule should be the gross payout amount before any deductions, such as tax withholding, administrative fees, or court-ordered garnishments, so you can match the amount to the line item on your annual 1099 tax form from the servicer.
Payment tier classification note
This field is for a short, consistent label to group payments that share the same guaranteed status, start date, and amount, to make it easier to reconcile batches of payments as they are issued. You should use the same classification labels that appear on your annuity servicer statements to avoid confusion when cross-referencing. Common classification labels include “Guaranteed Annual Tier”, “Deferred Lump Sum Tier”, “Post-Guarantee Life-Contingent Tier”, and “Special Needs Supplemental Tier”, depending on the terms of your specific agreement. Consistent classification also helps you track the total value of each tier, so you can compare the expected total payout to the disclosures provided in your original settlement agreement. You should add a separate note section at the bottom of your schedule to document any special terms associated with a tier, such as a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that increases the annual payout amount by a fixed percentage each year, or a provision that adjusts the payout if a designated minor beneficiary reaches the age of majority before the payout start date. Illustrative example: a tier with a 2% annual COLA would have a note stating “2% COLA applied to annual payment amount each January 1, effective 2026” attached to the classification label for all rows in that tier. You should update this note section any time you receive a formal update from your servicer about changes to tier terms, and keep a copy of the servicer’s notification with your schedule. If you notice a discrepancy between the total you calculate from your schedule and the total listed in your agreement, you should reach out to your servicer immediately to request a full breakdown of all fees, adjustments, or modifications that may have been applied to your payout schedule. Keep a record of all correspondence with your servicer about tier classifications, including email threads, mailed letters, and confirmation numbers for phone calls, in case you need to dispute a payment issue in the future.
Cross-reference the first three rows of your completed table against your original structured settlement agreement and most recent official servicer statement within the next 7 days to flag any mismatched dates or classification errors, and follow up with your annuity issuer in writing to resolve any discrepancies you identify.
