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Glite Dictionary
viatical settlement

viatical settlement

9.9
An agreement where a very ill person sells a life insurance policy for money now
  • noun
  • /ˈvaɪətɪkəl ˈsɛtəlmənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : acuerdo viático
  • Before agreeing to a viatical settlement, it is important to understand how it may affect your financial situation.

Examples

  • Many people consider a viatical settlement when facing terminal illness to receive cash for their life insurance.

  • After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, she decided to seek a viatical settlement to pay her medical bills.

  • Regulations for viatical settlements vary from state to state in the United States.

  • The company specializes in buying viatical settlements from terminally ill clients.

  • A viatical settlement can provide immediate cash for medical expenses.

  • Many terminally ill patients consider a viatical settlement as an option.

  • Hank Maisel accepted a viatical settlement on his $500,000 term-life policy to help cover his medical expenses.

Synonyms

viaticus settlement
vsviatical settlement
  • Specialized
9.9

Selling a life insurance policy to get money when very sick and likely to die soon

does not state that payment is above the cash surrender value

Surface Forms

viatical settlement singular
viatical settlements plural

Morphology

viatical + settlement

The compound pairs a specialized adjective 'viatical' (relating to life‑insurance transactions for terminally ill policyholders) with the general noun 'settlement' (an agreed resolution or payment), so the phrase is partly compositional — an agreement concerning viatical matters. However, the precise financial/legal sense (selling a life‑insurance policy for a lump sum below full value) is domain‑specific and not fully predictable to a B1 learner without insurance/financial knowledge, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Viatical settlement comes from the old word viatical, which meant money given for a person's 'final journey', and settlement, meaning an 'agreed payment'. So the picture is selling a life insurance policy to get cash now before the last journey, and that's why it means selling a policy when someone is seriously ill.