Designating Life Insurance Beneficiaries

When you define the terms of your life insurance policy, you need to establish a beneficiary, meaning the person(s) (or entity) who will receive the death benefit when you die. You may choose to select a spouse, partner, child(ren), grandchild(ren), business associate or parent(s). You can designate one or more people, a trustee (if you have set up a trust), a charity, or your estate. If no beneficiary is named, the policy defaults to naming your estate as the beneficiary.

Important Considerations Regarding Your Life Insurance Beneficiary

• Be aware that making a change of beneficiary in your will is not acceptable, as you need to work with your insurance company to make the appropriate changes to your life insurance policy.
• If you decide to name your estate as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, the policy will be added to your estate and may incur estate taxes.
• The need to name two or more back up beneficiaries (secondary) is critical. In the event your primary beneficiary cannot be located, the secondary beneficiary will receive the death benefit.
• In the case of an irrevocable life insurance trust, which was established to protect your estate, you do not have any control over changes to the beneficiaries.
• When you die, the named beneficiary or beneficiaries will receive the death benefit, tax free. If you do not assign a beneficiary, your policy will increase the size of your estate and be subject to estate taxes.

Updating Life Insurance Beneficiaries

Throughout the life of your insurance policy, you are likely to experience changes that will require you to update your beneficiary information (such as birth, adoption, marriage, divorce). It is critical that you make adjustments to your policy as you experience life changes to ensure the information is accurate and up-to-date. Making changes to your beneficiaries is as simple as submitting a form to the insurance company, making sure that your death benefit is provided to the people you want to protect financially.