§ 22-3-7-18 — Awards; lump sum payments

(a) Any employer or employee or beneficiary
who shall desire to have such compensation, or any unpaid part thereof,
paid in a lump sum, may petition the worker's compensation board,
asking that such compensation be so paid, and if, upon proper notice
to the interested parties, and a proper showing made before the
worker's compensation board, or any member thereof, it appears to the
best interest of the parties that such compensation be so paid, the
worker's compensation board may order the commutation of the
compensation to an equivalent lump sum, which commutation shall be
an amount which will equal the total sum of the probable future
payments capitalized at their present value upon the basis of interest
calculated at three percent (3%) per year with annual rests. In cases
indicating complete disability, no petition for a commutation to a lump
sum basis shall be entertained by the board until after the expiration of
six (6) months from the date of the disablement.
(b) Whenever the worker's compensation board deems it expedient,
any lump sum under this section shall be paid by the employer to some
suitable person or corporation appointed by the circuit or superior
court, as trustee, to administer the same for the benefit of the person
entitled thereto, in the manner authorized by the court appointing such
trustee. The receipt of such trustee for the amount so paid shall
discharge the employer or anyone else who is liable therefor.
Formerly: Acts 1937, c.69, s.10. As amended by P.L.28-1988,
SEC.53; P.L.1-2006, SEC.341.