Life-limiting illnesses, in addition to their detrimental health effects, exact a tremendous financial toll upon those insured and their loved ones. With the rapid increase in the number of and the spread of many such illnesses, especially AIDS and certain types of cancer, the use of such assignments by the terminally ill has become more widespread and has developed into the viatical settlement industry. A viatical settlement allows a terminally ill person to enjoy the benefits of his or her life insurance policy while he or she is still alive and to transform a non-producing asset into immediate cash which can be used to improve the quality of his or her life.