Pennsylvania Code › Title 231 - RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE › Part I - GENERAL › Chapter 2050 - INCAPACITATED PERSONS AS PARTIES › Rule 2064 - Compromise, Settlement, Discontinuance and Distribution

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) No action to which an incapacitated
				person is a party shall be compromised, settled, or discontinued except after
				approval by the court pursuant to a petition presented by any party in
				interest.
(b) When a compromise or
				settlement has been approved by the court, or when a judgment has been entered
				upon a verdict or by agreement, the court, upon petition by the guardian or the
				guardian ad litem or any party to the action, shall make an order approving or
				disapproving any agreement entered into by the guardian or the guardian ad
				litem for the payment of counsel fees and other expenses out of the fund
				created by the compromise, settlement or judgment; or the court may make such
				order as it deems proper fixing counsel fees and other proper expenses. The
				balance of the fund shall be paid to the guardian of the estate of the
				incapacitated person qualified to receive the fund, if there is one or one is
				to be appointed. The balance of the fund payable to the guardian of the estate
				may include a structured settlement underwritten by a financially responsible
				entity that assumes responsibility for future payments or a trust as described
				in subdivision (b)(4) of this rule. If the incapacitated person has no such
				guardian, and none is to be appointed, the court may order:
(1) an amount not more than twenty-five
				thousand dollars ($25,000.00) to be paid for the benefit of the incapacitated
				person to the guardian of the person or to the person or agency by whom the
				incapacitated person is maintained;
(2) any amount in cash of a resident or
				non-resident incapacitated person to be deposited in one or more savings
				accounts in the name of the incapacitated person in banks, buildings and loan
				associations, savings and loan associations or credit unions, deposits in which
				are insured by a Federal governmental agency, provided that the amount
				deposited in any one such savings institution shall not exceed the amount to
				which accounts are thus insured, or in one or more accounts in the name of the
				incapacitated person investing only in securities guaranteed by the United
				States government or a Federal governmental agency managed by responsible
				financial institutions. Every such order shall contain a provision that no
				withdrawal can be made from any such account unless the incapacitated person is
				adjudicated to have capacity, except as authorized by a prior order of the
				court. Proof of the deposit shall be promptly filed of record;
(3) an agreement be executed providing for a
				structured settlement underwritten by a financially responsible entity that
				assumes responsibility for future payments. All moneys paid from the structured
				settlement during incapacity shall be paid into a restricted account as
				provided by subdivision (b)(2) of this rule;
(4) a trust agreement be executed with a
				corporate fiduciary which is independent from the incapacitated person and
				anyone acting on the incapacitated person's behalf and is lawfully authorized
				to engage in trust business in Pennsylvania or the state of the incapacitated
				person's domicile, which trust
(i) is
				designated to receive the fund;
(ii) contains such terms for investment,
				disbursement and distribution of the fund as the court deems proper;
				and
(iii) expressly provides that
				it is subject to the court's continuing jurisdiction, including the court's
				right to modify or terminate, for cause shown, although the trust may be
				otherwise irrevocable.