Your Structured Settlement Annuity Is:

A contract between the defendant and an insurance company to insure that you receive periodic payments upon a schedule agreed with you for a set award you are to receive as the result of a court decision; most commonly, settlement damages are the direct result of injury to you or damages to your property. Structured settlement annuity payments are regularly occurring and guaranteed as tax free as long as the contract remains unchanged.
Should you chose to alter or sell the contract to obtain an immediate lump sum, you would have to pay taxes on the lump sum since the contract has been altered; in this case, it has been sold.
OK, but it is something you need to do to take care of immediate or long term financial objectives, so the question is, is it legal to sell your settlement for cash, and how do you do it?