Do structured settlement payments continue to an estate or beneficiary after the recipient dies in Ontario?

It depends entirely on how the structured settlement was set up. A structured settlement is usually funded through an annuity purchased from an insurer as part of resolving a personal injury claim, and the contract terms, not a general rule of law, determine what happens on the recipient's death. Some structures include a guaranteed payment period, meaning if the recipient dies before that period ends, the remaining guaranteed payments continue to a named beneficiary or the estate. Others are structured purely as a lifetime annuity with no guarantee period, in which case payments can simply stop on death.

Because these details are fixed at the time the settlement was negotiated, often years earlier, it's easy for a recipient's family to be unsure what applies without pulling the original settlement documents and annuity contract. The insurer that issued the annuity, or the lawyer who handled the original claim, is usually the fastest way to confirm the actual terms.

If you're managing an estate involving a structured settlement, treat the annuity contract itself as the source of truth rather than assuming either outcome, and contact the issuing insurer early in the estate administration process.