Can you take a life insurance policy out on anyone? Only if you have their consent and you have confirmed insurable interest in that person. If those two requirements are not met, you may not buy life insurance on another person.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to buy life insurance on someone else and when it makes sense for someone else to own your policy.
Table of Contents
- Can You Take Out a Life Insurance Policy on Anyone?
- How to Purchase Life Insurance on Someone Else
- Who Can You Get a Life Insurance Policy On?
- Who Should Be the Owner of a Life Insurance Policy?
Assessing your coverage needs isn’t always straightforward. Use our guide to evaluate your situation and understand how much life insurance you should get.
Can You Take a Life Insurance Policy Out on Anyone?
No, you can’t take a life insurance policy out on anyone. You need to have an insurable interest.
Having an insurable interest means you would be affected financially if the insured person died. For example, if your spouse died, your finances would immediately be impacted. But if your neighbor died, this would have no bearing on your finances. You have an insurable interest in your spouse, not your neighbor.
Examples of insurable interests include:
- Both individuals being named on a lease
- Jointly owning a home or business
- Debts naming both individuals (like a car loan)
- Shared custody of children
- Being engaged
This concept protects individuals. If insurance companies allowed anyone to get life insurance on anyone, it could lead to intentional harm. Life insurance is meant to replace lost income, not increase wealth.
Can You Get Life Insurance on Someone Without Them Knowing?
No, that would be illegal. A person must know about the policy because you need their consent to buy it. The only exception is for parents purchasing life insurance on their children under 18.
Consent can be shown via:
- The insured’s signature on paperwork
- Verification through PII (personally identifiable information)
- A phone interview with the insured person
- A life insurance medical exam with the insured person
A person who manages to purchase a policy on someone without consent is committing insurance fraud, a serious crime. Luckily, this type of fraud is relatively rare, thanks to the rigorous application process.
How to Purchase Life Insurance on Someone Else
If you depend on someone financially and their death would negatively impact your standard of living, then you have an insurable interest in that person. With their consent, you can apply for life insurance on them.
How Life Insurance Works
There are three parties involved on a life insurance policy:
- Policyowner – This person owns the policy and pays the premiums. They control every aspect of the policy.
- Insured – This is the person whose life is insured. If they die while the policy is inforce, their named beneficiaries can collect the death benefit.
- Beneficiary – This refers to the individual(s), estate, company, trust, or organization that receives the death benefit if the insured person dies. There can be more than one beneficiary.
The policyowner and insured are usually the same person. The beneficiary and policyowner can also be the same person. The insured and beneficiary cannot be the same person.
There are often negative tax consequences when each party is a different person, so you’ll want to avoid this. This ill-advised setup is known as the Goodman Rule or Unholy Trinity.
For example, let’s say Grandma is the insured, Mom is the policyowner, and an Adult Child is the beneficiary. According to tax law, when Grandma dies, Mom is “gifting” the death benefit to the Adult Child, so mom must pay gift taxes on it. To avoid the tax, Grandma should be the insured and policyowner.
Learn all you need to know designating life insurance beneficiaries and how it works.
Not sure how much term life insurance you need?
Who Can You Get a Life Insurance Policy On?
It depends. You must have either a financial insurable interest or a sentimental insurable interest. Having financial insurable interest means an individual’s death will cause a negative financial impact. Sentimental insurable interest only applies to family relationships, including:
- Parent to child
- Grandparent to grandchild
- Spouse to spouse
- Siblings
In any other circumstance, there needs to be a financial insurable interest present. You need the person’s consent in both financial and sentimental insurable interest.
Can I buy life insurance on my parents?
Yes. Life insurance may be possible if your parents are 90 or younger, but not if they are older.
You need an insurable interest and your parents’ consent to buy life insurance on them.
Examples of insurable interest:
- You would become responsible for their financial obligations if they passed away.
- You currently rely on them financially.
- You and your parents co-signed on a loan together.
Be sure to consider the costs of buying a life insurance policy on a senior:
- Premiums for this older age bracket tend to be extremely high across the board
- Any additional medical issues or pre-existing conditions will further jack up the price
Term life insurance is usually the most affordable choice, but 80 is the cut-off age. In addition, a 10-year term is likely the lengthiest coverage available for those between 75 and 80.
Learn more about buying life insurance for seniors.
Can I buy life insurance on my spouse?
Yes, buying life insurance on your spouse is very common. Spouses rely on one another for financial support. Remember, your spouse still needs to give consent to the policy.
Not married? Learn about buying life insurance on your significant other.
Can I buy life insurance on my children?
Yes, parents can buy life insurance on their children. You do not need their consent if the child is a minor.
Life insurance options for young children:
- Whole life insurance coverage
- Child rider life insurance coverage
It’s common for parents and grandparents to buy a whole life insurance policy for their child and transfer ownership when they turn 18, which is a valuable asset for a young adult. To keep the policy active, all they need to do is continue paying premiums or cash it out.
Learn more about buying life insurance on your children.
Can I buy life insurance on my siblings?
Yes, you can buy life insurance on your brother or sister with their consent. Because most siblings don’t rely on each other financially, this isn’t common. Still, there are cases where it makes sense.
- If you and your sibling share responsibility for taking care of your parents, this is an insurable interest.
- If your sibling has a will that designates you as their children’s legal guardian if they pass away unexpectedly, you have an insurable interest.
- If you cosign a loan for a sibling making you responsible for their debt should they die, this is considered an insurable interest.
Can I buy life insurance on a friend?
In most cases, you can’t buy life insurance on friends. You need to have an insurable interest, and most friends aren’t financially dependent upon each other.
Of course, there are exceptions. If you rent or own property with a friend, you have an insurable interest because your finances would take a hit if they die. Remember, you still need consent to buy life insurance on this friend.
Can I buy life insurance on business partners?
Yes. In fact, business partners often insure each other’s lives to help mitigate risk. They purchase life insurance on each other as a part of a buy-sell agreement. They may even buy key person insurance on their most important employees.
Discover how much life insurance you need with our life insurance needs calculator.
Who Should Be the Owner of a Life Insurance Policy?
Most prefer to own their personal life insurance policy. This way, they’re in complete control. Yet there are certain situations where it makes sense for someone else to be the owner. Let’s go over a few of these examples.
High-Net Worth
You shouldn’t own your life insurance policy if you have assets worth millions. Your estate could easily exceed the federal exemption amount when that much money is at stake. On January 1st, 2023, the federal estate tax exemption was raised to $12.92 million. If the head of a high-value estate owns their policy and passes away, each dollar beyond that new limit will be heavily taxed.
Life insurance can quickly push your estate over the threshold. Prevent your loved ones from paying exorbitant estate taxes by naming your beneficiary as the policyowner. You might also work with an estate planning attorney to create a trust to own your policy.
Trust-Owned Life Insurance
Setting up a trust to own and pay for your life insurance policy can be a wise strategy. When a trust has ownership, your policy can’t be included in your taxable estate. You can also set more rules regarding your trust’s proceed distribution.
Choosing a trust to own life insurance can help:
- Reduce estate tax liabilities
- Make sure the death benefit proceeds are distributed responsibly
- Pay death benefit proceeds to minors
- Protect the proceeds from creditors
- Protect the beneficiary’s government benefits ( I.E., Social Security Income and Medicaid
- Avoid probate court
Business or Partner Owned Life Insurance
Typically, business partners use life insurance to fund a buy-sell agreement. With this type of agreement, the parties involved purchase life insurance on each other to protect the business, the owners, and their families.
Sometimes employers buy life insurance on their most integral employees. If your role is vital to the company’s overall success, an owner may discuss key person life insurance with you. Although your employer does have an insurable interest in this scenario, they need your consent to buy that policy legally.
Buy Life Insurance Through Quotacy with Confidence
Talking about death isn’t fun, but life insurance is vital. If you rely on someone financially or if someone relies on you, start the discussion.
Finding your ideal life insurance doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process. With Quotacy, getting term life insurance can actually be simple. You can even apply online in minutes without having to disclose sensitive information.
If you’re considering term life insurance for yourself or someone else (in whom you have an insurable interest and who has given their consent), Quotacy can help. Get free term life insurance quotes today. No contact information required.
My husband is 45 years old. We have 3 children. We already have good life insurance. Me and the children will be well taken care of in thr event that my husband passes. He is my beneficiary and I am his. Then the children are second. My husband’s mother wants my husband’s ss number so she can take a policy out on him. She has no financial ties to us. She will suffer no financial loss or hardship if he dies. Technically she would just receive a full payout from the insurance company with no responsibility of burial or any expenses he leaves behind. How can she legally do this? She is his mother but it seems like fraud when she won’t have to pay any expenses with the insurance payout if he dies. She’s gets off scotch free while I have the burden of paying the debt he leaves. We have a home, cars, loan etc. How is that fair?
Hi Tee, since your husband is a legal adult, he can refuse to consent to his mother’s application for life insurance on him. He does not need to give her any information he doesn’t wish to, nor does he need to sign anything.
So my mother died when I was 7, my grandmother raised me and my uncle in the same house so basically he’s my brother. Is there a way that I could open a whole life policy on my 1st cousins? They’re pretty much my nieces and nephews.
Hi Kristopher, you can purchase whole life insurance policies on your 1st cousins with the consent of a parent. I assume these cousins are minor children? Since they cannot sign off on the application themselves, their parent (as a legal guardian) need to do so on their behalf.
I am a provider I take care of my boyfriends granddad seven days a week he already has life insurance I do everything for him he’s 81 years old he has stage 4 lung cancer no one really checks on him but me I do everything for him just need to know. If I can thanks
Hi Alesia, are you asking if you can buy life insurance on your boyfriend’s grandfather? If he is dying of cancer, he is not insurable for traditional life insurance. If he would like to leave you a portion of his current life insurance policy’s death benefit, he can update the beneficiaries of his policy to include you.
There are families that want life insurance for their own but they can’t afford to pay them but they are willing to make a deal in order an stranger to pay the life insurance and then by the time comes on part of the life insurance will go to the family and an other part to the individual that paid the life insurance. Is this legally possible?
Hi Rodrigo, thanks for your question. This scenario is not possible because insurance companies require the owner of a policy to have “insurable interest” on the insured person. To have insurable interest, the owner needs to benefit financially from the existence of the insured. In your hypothetical situation, the stranger does not benefit from the existence of the family.
A person cannot buy life insurance on some other random person, even if this random person gives their consent. These rules are for the protection of the insured.
I was court ordered to receive Former sSpouse Survivor Annuity…from my ex spouse…then he changed his mind and is now fighting it in court again..if I don’t receive this I will have no money coimg to me..can I get a life insurance policy on him?
You can only buy life insurance on someone if you have an insurable interest in them (their death would directly impact your finances) and if you have their consent.
Hello, Apologies if this question has been answered above. My mother took out what I believe was a whole life policy on me when I was a child. I have not spoken to her now in 10+ years and do not want her to be able to cash in if anything would happen to me. Is there anything I can do to claim that policy or have it canceled since it is tied to me?
Hi RJ, since your mother is the owner of the policy, she is not legally required to transfer ownership to you or cancel it at your request. She has been paying into this policy for many years and it could have accumulated a significant cash value and she may have plans to later surrender the policy for the cash value to supplement her retirement.
You could offer to pay your mother the value of the policy in return for her transferring ownership to you. She doesn’t have to accept your offer, but just a suggestion of a route you could try.
I am currently doing some homework and am trying to better understand how life insurance would work. For example, one question is asking:
Jeremy noticed that a customer in the store, Nadine Russo (NR), appeared to have some major health problems. Thinking she was probably close to death, Jeremy personally took out a life insurance contract on her for a million dollars. When she did die four months later, Jeremy made a claim on the insurance policy but the company refused to pay.
a) Why did the company claim it did not need to pay?
b) What is the relevant legal rule?
c) Applying that legal rule to the facts of this case, does the company need to pay Jeremy the claim on the insurance policy?
If you could help me with this, it would be highly appreciated! How does this work?
I can’t do your homework for you, but I can tell you that there is no insurable interest in this case which is why the policy would be void : )
I have a friend that daughter who has been in and out of rehab. She is 29 years old. She has 2 children. On child lives with the grandparents (legal adopted by them) and the other child lives with Great Grandparents (legal adopted). The daughter is still around but is not part of their life. Is there anyway to have the parents of 29year old take out a Guarenteed Issue Life policy on daughter to cover the children’s expenses if she dies?
David, guaranteed issue policies are generally only available to individuals aged 40 and older. In addition, these types of insurance policies are very expensive.
The best route for the adopted parents to go would be to open savings accounts to slowly start saving and to continue to support the young mother during her rehabilitation. In addition to the savings plan, they could look into purchasing an accidental death insurance policy. This only pays out if she dies because of an accident, but it is something on top of the savings plan if they wish.
It’s never too late for someone to turn their life around. She’s still quite young and there’s time for her to work on herself, get healthy, and become insurable through a traditional life insurance policy.
We are interested in purchasing an insurance policy to cover burial expenses for my husband’s developmentally disabled sister who lives with us. She receives a modest income that helps with her living expenses. We are not concerned about replacing that income when she passes, rather we’re concerned about coming up with a chunk of money to pay for her funeral and burial. We would like to add a little for her to gift to her niece and nephew since they grew up with her their entire childhood.
Kim, because your sister-in-law is developmentally disabled, a guaranteed-acceptance life insurance policy would be the only type of product she would qualify for because these policies provide guaranteed coverage no matter the health situation. I’m not sure how old your sister-in-law is, but typically these products are only available to individuals at least 45/50 years old. These policies also come with very high premiums because of the guaranteed coverage. You can read more about these policies here: What Is Final Expense Life Insurance?
Another option for you to consider would be to open a savings account to save up for her future funeral and burial costs.
I’m looking for an insurance for my cousin she’s a cancer patient but she resides outside the US. I’m worried about burial expenses and she has 2 young children.
Antoinette, I’m sorry to hear your cousin is battling cancer. We wish her the best. In the U.S., someone going through cancer treatments cannot qualify for traditional life insurance but may be able to purchase guaranteed issue whole life insurance depending on her age. A U.S. citizen living outside the the U.S. can still obtain life insurance but everything needs to be completed on U.S. soil–signing the policy, premiums need to be paid from a U.S. bank account, etc.
Do policies that are already in effect outlast the necessary requirements in your article? Specifically, if a spouse took out a policy on the other while they were married and later became divorced…as long as the premiums continue to be met, is the insurance company obligated to pay if the ex-spouse passes away 10, 20, 30 years later?
To take that one step further,
If the spouse that took out the policy passes away, and their contingent beneficiary continues to pay the premiums, would the policy still pay the contingent (now primary) beneficiary once the ex-spouse of the deceased passes away?
Great questions, DeV. In regards to your first question, yes. A divorce does not automatically terminate a life insurance policy. If a spouse takes a life insurance policy out on their spouse and they later divorce and the policy is kept active, the insurance company will pay the death benefit even if they are no longer married.
As far as your second question goes, in some situations, yes the insurance company would still pay the death benefit if the policy is kept active. But the factor of who becomes the successor owner would also come into play. Sometimes policies already state who is to become the owner if the original owner predeceases the insured. If the policy does not list a successor owner, then the owner spouse’s Will would determine who inherits assets, which would include the life insurance policy. The new owner could change the beneficiary. So, in some cases, the contingent beneficiary may not end up with the proceeds when the insured dies.
There is additional information on this blog if you’re interested to read more about how divorce can affect life insurance: Life Insurance After a Divorce: What You Need to Know.
My dad died and I found an insurance policy he bought on me when I was little. It was a 20 year policy that has been paid up for a long while. Is there a possibility that he cashed it in? He had some annuities on him and my mom, that I didn’t know about, that he cashed in shortly after he retired. Just want to know if I could cash the policy in?? Thanks
Susan, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your dad. Cashing in the policy is definitely an option that was available to him since he was the policy owner. If the policy is still active and your dad had a will, he may have stated who he would like to pass ownership of your policy to. If he did not, the life insurance policy would become an asset of your dad’s estate. The state in which you live has laws regarding to whom ownership is to be transferred.
I am 68 years old now but when I was 9 years old my Mom was diagnosed with scleroderma and given 18 months to live. She is 100 years old now. I took the policy to a Attorney and was going to ask if I could borrow some of the money to give to my Mom and her friends to spend and take a vacation or trip whatever her desire would be. The Attorney took a copy got up told me he had no more time would not return the part he took copies of ins. He got up showed me the door locked his office and left. I saw him a month or so later at the Social Security Office talking how his wifes mom had died. I saw a lady walk away and cry her Mom had passed a?way. I said I was sorry for her loss. Later realizing he was the attorney and the loss was my mom. They have bilked the insurance company out of most if not all the insurance. What can I do?
Contact your state’s insurance commissioner and tell them your situation. You can find their contact information here: NAIC.org
Can i buy INSURANCE on my daughters significant other,?,they have a 4 year child tigether..thanks in advance
Bret,
Most insurance companies would take issue with an individual buying life insurance on their child’s significant other.
Your daughter has insurable interest in her partner and could purchase life insurance on this person. You could then gift the premiums to your daughter. This option would be an easier route for you to go.
We take care of a developmentally Disabled person for almost 30 years. We do get a stipend for caring for him. Can we take out a life insurance and burial account on him?
Craig,
Depending on the type and severity of the disability, the individual you’ve been taking care of may not qualify for traditional life insurance. And guaranteed issue life insurance (final expense/funeral/burial life insurance) may be cost-prohibitive.
The main purpose of life insurance is to provide beneficiaries funds that replace the income you’ve been providing to them. Because you are this individual’s caretaker and he is dependent upon you, you are the individual who actually needs life insurance.
You mentioned that “we” are taking care of him. If you were to die unexpectedly, would this other person be able to financially provide for the disabled individual on their income and the stipend alone? This is when life insurance would be the most beneficial.
Setting up life insurance properly is important for disabled beneficiaries who receive government benefits. You want to make sure you don’t accidentally disqualify them from federal and state assistance programs. Naming the other caretaker or a trust as your beneficiary instead of the disabled individual is best. If you don’t yet have life insurance and are considering it, contact us or speak to your local agent to make sure you get the right plan for your particular situation
Can my husband buy life insurance on my three kids who don’t live with us and my husband has not adopted them they live with their real Dad.. Is my husband able to buy life insurance on them? I hope he can’t.
Shirley,
Any reputable life insurance company will require a policyowner to be a legal guardian of the child he wants to insure. If your husband has no legal right over your children, he should not be able to purchase life insurance on them.
If a parent has a life insurance policy that she’s paying for. She has 4 kids. One sister is the beneficiary but there is no one Power of Attorney . Does this mean the other children will not receive there part?
Hi Sally,
Whoever is named beneficiary will receive the policy’s death benefit. So, if the sister is the only named primary beneficiary, she is the only one who will receive the sum.
My husband worked for 20 years for a big Company before getting cancer . He passed away in Dec. 2016. The company that he worked with had life insurance for the employees. I went to ask if it was still effective on his case since he left the job for being sick. He never sing a resignation form or something similar. They said the insurance was only if he got injured or died during working hours. Can I still fight this?
Duran,
I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your husband. I will put him and your family in my prayers. It sounds like the company was paying for a life insurance policy on your husband. Most of these are for $50k max unless the employee chooses to add supplemental coverage on top of that which typically comes out of one’s paycheck. At some point your husband must have named a beneficiary, most likely you, on his insurance plan if it was for your family’s benefit. It is possible they had some weird type of plan which would only pay out for work accidents, but they are rare. Before I started fighting with the company, I would ask them for a copy of the life insurance plan documentation. If they won’t provide that, then I would start to think something smelled fishy. You are a widow who was thinking there was life insurance coming from the death of your beloved and the HR department should be willing to work with you and help you understand. A copy of the policy will help you understand what he was covered for. It will be clearly outlined in the documentation.
Can I take out life insurance on my son that is 26 years of age but is a felon
Hello Eric,
If your son is currently incarcerated, on probation, or on parole, then you will not likely be able to obtain life insurance on him.
If your son is no longer in jail or on parole/probation, then the type of crime and how long it has been since the end of parole/probation will be taken into consideration. This blog post How Does a Criminal Record Affect Buying Life Insurance? may be helpful to you.
Hi, I have a question my mother passed away and we have a really bad relationship with her boyfriend , but we are quite sure he has an insurance in her name , is there any way we could know if he has one on her name or not ?
Hi Claudia,
I’m sorry to hear about the passing of your mother.
I see from your email you are outside of the United States—Quotacy is in the U.S. Life insurance law and regulation is not the same country to country. I would advise you to contact your region’s life insurance commissioner and ask for assistance.
My sister has taken out a life insurance policy in the amount of $250K on my mother. As of late my mother is expressing concerns that if my sister cooks she will not eat it. As children we witnessed our fathers abuse toward my mother which in one instance put my mother in the hospital from stab wounds inflicted by my father. My sister decides to take my father to my mothers home which made her very upset. From reading up on this it seems my sister has rights over this policy, such as who is listed as the beneficiary as long as she is paying. It looks to be very expensive to maintain a policy such as this, but in an attempt to place my mother at ease, can the payer of said policy be changed?
Debra,
I understand your concern for your mother.
You’re correct in your research. If your sister is the owner of this policy, she has control and only your sister can change ownership. If your sister is willing to move the policy payor over to your mother, then your mom would have complete control over the policy. You and/or your siblings could “gift” your mom money to pay the premiums.
In order for your sister to have purchased a life insurance policy of $250,000 on your mother, your mother would have had to give her consent. If she is now regretting this and in fear for her life, she should go to the authorities.
My dad has a life insurance policy on me and I’m in my late 20’s. I didn’t understand what it was all about when he did it but I don’t want him to have one on me anymore. There is no reasoning on why he needs this on me. Are there any circumstances that would terminate this policy? Like what if I get married? Does it end? And he isn’t dependent on me and I’m not dependent on him so how did this polic y ever go into effect in the first place?
Hi Sam,
Your dad most likely purchased a permanent policy on you when you were younger. Parents sometimes do this to not only protect against the what ifs, but to lock in their child’s future insurability and allow the permanent policy time to generate a cash value.
There aren’t any situations in which a permanent policy terminates unless he stops paying the premiums. You can, however, ask your dad to transfer ownership over to you. This is common for parents to do when their child is an adult. Once you own the policy, you have the control and can do whatever you want with the policy.
Can I get insurance on my 19 yr old? He has been doing things that leave me to think he my find himself in some trouble and I would need to be able to afford the expenses that come along with that. Will it pose a problem because he will be 19 soon and I had never been put on his birth certificate? Also, as a parent when he turns a certain age is the policy automatically his? We are in IL.
Hi Vawn,
I’m sorry to hear about the troubles you’re having with your son. I’m not sure what kind of trouble you’re referring to, but I wanted to let you know it is difficult to be approved for coverage if someone is on parole, pending felony arrest, or currently using hard drugs.
Also, life insurance only pays out if the person insured dies. You cannot use the money if you need help in paying for lawyer fees, for example, while he is still alive.
You will need insurable interest since he is older than 18 years of age. What this means is that you need to show the insurance company that you rely on his income. Does he financially support you in any way?
Ownership of a life insurance policy does not automatically change as a child ages.
Would I be able to put out a LI policy on my daughter’s father? We are not married and he pays child support and if he were to pass. I wouldn’t be able to fully take care of my daughter on my income alone.
Hi Patricia,
Your daughter’s father would need to consent to you owning a life insurance policy on him, electronically sign a few forms, and agree to a medical exam. If he is OK with that, you would not have an issue buying life insurance on him. Because you rely on his income for support, this would be considered insurable interest and insurance companies would approve the application.
If you would like to apply for life insurance on him, be sure to complete the online quote and application using his information rather than your own.
Feel free to contact us if you have any more questions.
Can I buy life insurance on the mom of our foster kids? She is a family friend in poor health. We would most likely be responsible for the kids in the event of her death
Hi Tim,
Firstly, foster parents are so important. Thank you for helping those kids. To buy life insurance on someone else you need insurable interest and consent. You likely wouldn’t have a problem proving insurable interest since you are responsible for those children and their biological parents will affect your future. You would need her to sign off on forms, complete a medical exam, etc.
The problem I foresee, however, is you mentioned she is in poor health. I’m not sure what conditions she has but if they are severe she may be uninsurable for traditional life insurance. You don’t know until you try applying or giving details to an insurance agent. Contact us directly if you would like to discuss this or you can just try applying for the life insurance and your Quotacy agent will keep you updated on the status. Depending on her age, if she is uninsurable for traditional insurance, you will want to look into what is called guaranteed issue life insurance. These policies typically only provide enough money for a funeral and to settle end-of-life expenses.
Can I purchase life insurance for my Dad? I am the oldest child and none of us have power of attorney yet because it’s not necessary at this time, but I’d be left with the expenses if something were to happen. Also he’s over 65 and refuses to go to a Dr. I know it’s required for most to have a medical exam. Seeing as that’s impossible. do you have any recommendations?
Hi Codi,
When applying for life insurance, you have the option of having the medical examiner come to your dad’s house. He wouldn’t even have to go to a doctor’s office. Do you think he would be OK with that? If not, I’d recommend that you read about guaranteed life insurance policies. Your father would not need to undergo any type of medical exam nor would his medical records even come into play – a guaranteed life insurance policy is just that. Guaranteed. The caveat is that these plans have high premiums and coverage amounts are much lower than your traditional life insurance policy. You can read more about guaranteed issue here: Is Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance a Good Option?
can u get it on a roommat insurance
Hi Michele,
Is your roommate your significant other/partner? If so, then it shouldn’t be an issue to obtain life insurance on this person with their consent. If your roommate is simply just your roommate, being named on the same lease most likely isn’t going to be enough to persuade a life insurance company to approve the coverage.
Your roommate could purchase a life insurance policy on themselves and then after it is approved and placed inforce (activated, in other words) he or she can name you a beneficiary.
Need life insurance on a business associate and friend living in my home
Hi Ron,
Is the friend and business associate the same person or are you inquiring about two different policies? If you have consent and insurable interest on someone, you can purchase life insurance on them. For example, if you and the business associate are co-owners of a business and the death of this person affects you financially, this can be considered insurable interest. You might be interested in reading this blog post: Life Insurance to Protect Business Owners.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions. You can contact us directly.
You can start the application process by getting a term life insurance quote. Just click on the Get Your Quote button at the top.
I heard from my mother that my father bought my life insurance and made himself the beneficiary. This is a cause for concern since we aren’t on good terms. Is there a way I can make myself the beneficiary or find any other insurance he made?
Anne,
I feel for your concern about your father owning a life insurance policy on you. I hope this concern is around him benefitting financially when you die rather than about fearing for your life. If it is the latter, my suggestion is for you to contact the authorities.
Assuming that you are looking to gain access to the policy, then the first step is to ask him about it, either yourself or through an intermediary like an uncle, aunt, sibling, grandparent, etc. Since he is the owner of the policy and pays the premiums, it is his right to choose the beneficiary and the insured has no power over that choice.
This is most likely a child policy with a small face amount as he would have to have had your signature if he bought it when you were an adult. These are small contracts that build up some cash value over the years which is an asset for him. Not sure what the amount is, but you could offer to buy it from him and have him change the ownership over to you. The value of the transaction would be the cash value in the policy.
Finding out about other insurance can be done through a couple sources such as hiring a policy locator service or requesting your consumer file from the Medical Information Bureau. Take a look at this post Can I Find Out if Someone Purchased Life Insurance on Me Without My Permission? for additional information about these routes. However, the likelihood of him having other policies as well is low. I would suggest you focus on this one policy since you have concern and see if he is willing to part with it for a check.
Can I get life insurance on my sons biological father for never paying child support? Also can I purchase life insurance on my ex father in law for persuading his son not to pay me child support for our sons. They are now grown and would like education and better lives
Hi Karen,
It’s perfectly acceptable for you to purchase life insurance on the father of your children. He would need to consent, sign the application, and, if needed, complete the medical exam.
Does your ex-father-in-law provide for you or your children financially in any way? I ask this because you need insurable interest to buy life insurance on another person. If your ex-FIL died, would your finances be negatively affected? If not, you will not be able to purchase life insurance on him. If he does financially provide for you or your children, you could apply to purchase life insurance on him, but again, you would need his consent, he would have to sign the application, and complete the medical exam.
Thanks Natasha, Unfortunately my husband had a son with another women and even though his son is a man now and has his dad’s grand children; unfortunately right after his son was of legal adult age we separated and he when back to his sons mother really just so he could be with his son and now grand babies. Unfortunately, she claims to have for her and their son a life insurance policy for her and her son two separate policies. And unrecorded is the fact that his sons mother said she wanted him dead???
Hi Brandie,
I am sorry, but I’m not sure what your question is here. However, if you are concerned about the safety of your husband’s son I would advise you contact the authorities.
Can my partner get life insurance on our children without my concent as a mother?
Hi Catrina,
If your partner has legal guardianship of your children, then he would be able to purchase life insurance on them.
I have the same question in a sense. My ex-husband wants to buy a policy on our 6 minor children. But I am the full custodial parent at this time. He only gets minimal supervised visitation with them every few months due due his history of child abuse. I am very concerned by his request. Could I buy a policy on them first? Would that stop him from being able to buy a policy on them? Or could the fact that none of the children live with him at all be a deterrent in itself?
You purchasing policies on your children would only prevent your ex-husband from buying on them if you purchased enough coverage to meet their insurability limits. Other than that, being their father gives him insurable interest and he can purchase life insurance on his children, as long as he also has life insurance.
I don’t know if this is relevant. I’ve been reading about the need for the brother or sister to get consent on life insurance policies. Well, my brother and I didn’t know until after my older brother died and the life insurance agent said that he (older brother) had taken life insurance policies out on the both of us, hoping that I or my younger brother would die before him. Never thought about taking a life insurance policy out on him before he died,
My partner and I have been together for 4 years. Her ex is a lunatic and he doesn’t remember if he signed anything or not. They were together for 10 years. Is there a way to look it up. We want it cancelled if so
Danielle, are you wondering if there is a life insurance policy on your partner purchased by the ex? Your partner would also have needed to sign paperwork, complete a phone interview with the insurance company, and probably get a medical exam done. Your partner can request her Medical Information Bureau file which would be disclose if she has been underwritten for a life insurance policy within the last 7 years.
I live in the State of Washington. My husband has been really sick the past few years. We have been married for 10yrs. I am his caregiver. Before we were married his sister got a life insurance policy on him and she pays the premiums. He and I have spoken about what he wants in his death. He would like his grandchildren to recieve something. Do I have any chance on where that money is going?
Hi Tina,
I am sorry to hear about your husband’s health. Since his sister pays the premiums on the life insurance policy, I assume she is the owner of the policy. The owner of a life insurance policy has complete control over it and gets to decide who receives the death benefit of the policy. You do not have any say on where that money goes. Your husband can express his wishes to his sister, but in the end she has the right to decide the policy’s beneficiaries.
Does your husband have a will in place? In a will, he can state what he wishes to have happen to assets he owns. Here he can bequeath something to his grandchildren.
Don’t know about your state but it is my understanding the insured has to have signed the insurance application. An insurance agent told me that no matter who pays the premium, the policy belongs to the insured once they are 21 or older and that person can change the beneficiary to whoever they want to.
Hi Debra,
You are correct – the insured needs to sign the life insurance application even if the insured is not the policyowner. The exception to this rule is if a parent is buying a policy on their child. In regards to your statement about policy ownership at age 21, buying life insurance on a child may be what your agent was referring to. One reason a parent may decide to purchase a life insurance policy on their child is to guarantee their child’s future insurability. When the child reaches the age of majority (typically age 18 but does vary state to state) the policyowner (typically the parent) can transfer ownership to the child.
Oftentimes the insured and policyowner are the same person, but when they are not, no matter what age the insured individual is, the policyowner has control of the policy and has sole discretion in designating beneficiaries.
My ex wife had a life insurance policy on me through her job.
This was 13 years ago, do I have part interest in it now that we are devoice .how can I cheek to see if she still have it.
Hi Michael,
Since your ex-wife owns the policy, she has control over it. The only way to find anything out about the policy would be to talk with her about it.
There should be no reason for a parent to insure their child unless due to serious illness I hope if the child did pass away from other circumstances there would be a major investigation. And both parents should concent under medical grounds only, ruling out no other possiblity
Hi Catrina,
There are two main reasons as to why parents would buy life insurance on their children. Reason #1 would be to be able to afford a funeral and take time off work to grieve. Reason #2 would be to lock in their child’s future insurability. If you want to read more about this, check out this post: Buying Life Insurance on Your Children.
Hello! I already have permission from my mother to purchase life insurance for her. I noticed on some insurance companies website(s) are asking for the State (residence) and my mother and I lived in two different states. Do I use hers or mine? Thank you!
Hello, you would use the address of the insured on the application. In this case, that is your mother.
Can my husband get life insurance for my son, but my husband is the Step Dad,
Thank You
Hi Alejandra,
Are you asking if your husband can purchase and own a life insurance policy on your son? The answer is yes, even if he is the stepfather and not biological.
If you’re asking if he can purchase life insurance on himself for your son’s benefit, we would recommend that if your son is a minor, that your husband name you as beneficiary instead. If your husband were to die while your son is still a minor, the court system would have to step in to name a property guardian to manage the funds on your son’s behalf since he’s not a legal adult. This process takes time and money.
Hello , can I purchase insurance policies for five minor great nieces and nephews ,and do I need their consent or their parents consent ? Thank You
Hi – Can you please clarify your question: Are you asking if you can purchase life insurance policies on your nieces and nephews? Or are you wondering if you can buy life insurance on yourself FOR your nieces and nephews?
Yes that’s what I`m asking you , can I purchase life insurance policies on my nieces and nephews without their or their parents consent .
Hi Steven,
The answer is no. Unless you are their legal guardian or would somehow feel a financial loss upon their deaths, you cannot buy life insurance on your nieces and nephews.
What would qualify as (financial loss)? Thank You
Hi Steven,
If you are not their legal guardian, you need their parents’ consent in addition to proof of insurable interest a.k.a. the financial loss.
If you are their caregiver and are responsible for their medical care and their deaths would leave you with medical bills, this could be considered financial loss.
If you would be responsible for paying for their funeral and burial, this could be considered financial loss.
There are two main reasons parents buy life insurance on their children: 1) pay for expenses such as a funeral and medical bills and afford to take time off work to grieve should they go through the unthinkable and lose their child and 2) guarantee their child’s future insurability. Some choose to buy permanent life insurance on their children that generates a cash value which they can use to help pay for future things like a first home or college tuition.
If these are the reasons you are inquiring on purchasing life insurance on your nieces and nephews, it’s worth it to have a discussion with their parents. You’ll need them to sign off on it. If their parents refuse consent, you won’t be able to purchase life insurance on your nieces and nephews. You could start a savings account or 529 College Savings Plan for them, however.
Say a man and woman get divorced after having a child together. Are either of the parents able to get life insurance on the child without the other’s knowledge or consent?
Hi Annie,
The child is equally both the mom’s and the dad’s, even if the parents get a divorce. Neither parent needs permission to buy a life insurance policy on the child.
What if the dad is a raging alcoholic and take drugs but can’t be proven? And is also in 10,000 worth of debt would you still give him permission of life insurance?
If someone has substance abuse issues, this would likely come up in background record checks and medical records if this person was applying for life insurance. However, if this person is just the policyowner, not the person being insured, then the life insurance company would have no way of knowing this.
I have whole life insurance on my three foster sons. I’m be policy owner and they signed giving me permission. I also have myself, mom, sister & kids covered. My sons m are adults now and I’m still paying. Their mom gave up rights when they were a child. If she comes back around, is she entitled?
Will,
What you are doing as a foster parent is vitally important and compassionate. Our purpose here at Quotacy is saving families. I feel like we do a great job accomplishing that, but it pales in comparison to an individual who becomes a parent to a child in need. A big shout out to you from all of us here!
As for whether the mother can come back and ask for something from you in regards to the life insurance. That is a good question. The answer is no, she cannot come back and make any demands on the life insurance policy. The reason is that life insurance is a contract between the owner of the policy and the insurance company. There are laws and regulations that cover life insurance, but ultimately it is just an asset between two parties. As long as the mom isn’t listed as an owner or beneficiary on the policies then she has no right to the policies. If she is included in the policies, then that is a different story.
Thank you for thanking foster parents.
Can I buy life insurance for my aunt? She’s having a major health problem and i think one of the things that we should consider for that case is to get her life insurance.
Hi Lyn,
To buy life insurance on someone you need to have insurable interest. What this means is that you can only buy life insurance on someone if their death would directly affect you financially. Does your aunt provide for you financially? Do you live in her home? Would you be responsible for her funeral costs or any other debts? These would be examples of insurable interest. If these don’t apply to you, you likely would not be able to purchase a policy on her.
Your aunt could, however, buy life insurance on herself and name you a beneficiary. You mentioned that she has a major health problem though; depending on the situation this means traditional life insurance may not be an option. If your aunt is in very poor health, a guaranteed issue life insurance policy may be your best choice.
Without knowing the exact circumstances, I can’t give you definitive advice. If you would like more information, please feel free to call us here at Quotacy (844) 786-8229. We’re more than willing to talk with you about the situation and help you make a plan.
I was wondering if I could purchase life insurance on my mother. I think I have the right to do so, I am her only child and she is not married. When she does die, whatever debt she has and her home loan become my problem, don’t they? All I would want would be like 100,000 or so to cover burial costs and to settle her debts. Is that allowed?
Hi Jennifer,
You would need your mother’s consent, but you are allowed to purchase life insurance on her. Another option would be for your mother to buy life insurance on herself and name you as the beneficiary.
As far as her debt becoming your debt, you won’t necessarily be responsible for it unless of course you share responsibility and ownership, such as being named as a co-signer to a credit card. Her debts would be paid by her estate. However, you would lose out on any estate inheritance that then gets used to pay off those debts. Life insurance is beneficial because the death benefit is typically exempt from the probate process (which is when these “Who pays for what?” scenarios are figured out in a courtroom.)
Enter your mother’s basic information (zipcode, birthdate, gender) into our quoting tool here to get an estimate on how much her term insurance coverage would cost.
I am concerned about having a life insurance on someone without he or she knowing.
Hi Amos,
You cannot purchase life insurance on someone else without their consent. This blog post Can I Find Out if Someone Purchased Life Insurance on Me Without My Permission? may be helpful to you!
My daughter is 3 that would be without them knowing!
Hi Catrina,
Legal guardians do not need consent from their minor children to purchase a life insurance policy on them.
Hello. I have a question. My mother, whom I no longer speak with, has & had insurance policies on multiple people. I know she has a policy on me that was supposed to have been signed over to my husband when we married. That was 5 years ago, nothing has happened. My biggest worry is about our 2 children. She spoke often about how she wanted policies on them & I always told her no. I’ve worried that she has done this anyways. Is this legal, in case she went behind my back & got a policy on them? If it is illegal, is there anything I can do to stop it?
LeAnn,
It saddens me that you and your mother no longer speak with each other. May you one day come to a resolution to the suffering that ails your relationship.
Your mother has a policy on you and didn’t transfer it to you or your husband many years ago, and now you are concerned that she has a policy on your children. We should all keep the promises we make to the best of our ability, and she should have given it to you if she said she would.
This is a very complicated question because as of now you don’t know if she has a policy on them or not. There is a company called the Medical Information Bureau (MIB for short), that has information on many of the policies in the US, but most policies that are reported to the MIB from the insurance carriers are amounts of $100,000 or more. And there are very few children’s policies that are that size. So contacting them about your children and seeing if there is a policy on their lives will almost certainly come up with nothing. We have an article on the MIB here:
What is the medical information bureau?
As a grandparent it is not illegal to purchase a plan on a grandchild, so she may have gone about this without your consent. There is nothing that I know of that you can do to stop her from doing it besides communicating with her and emphatically saying no. On the positive side, I am unsure about how your mom owning a policy on your children can harm them unless you are afraid she will harm them for the insurance benefit. If you are afraid of your mother then my suggestion is to speak with the authorities and make sure that she stays far away from your family. Otherwise, there is no harm that comes to your family with her owning a policy. I wish I had information that would offer more peace to you.
My mother In law has an insurance policy on my husband. Since we are married and if anything was to happen to him I would be responsible for his debt can she still be eligible to have his policy?
Vicky,
Once a policy is inforce it becomes an asset of the owner. In this case, that is your mother-in-law. A lot of our discussion on this page involves whether someone can buy a policy on another individual. There must be insurable interest to get a policy issued with a reputable company. On the other hand, once a policy is issued, you can do anything you want with it. Give it to another person, change beneficiary to whomever you like, etc. There may be tax consequences for doing certain acts with a policy, but the insurance company cannot stop you from doing these things. Nor can an insurance company tell someone that their policy is cancelled because of lack of insurable interest once it is in force.
That is a long way of saying, I am sorry, but since the policy exists, the company cannot nor will not make her ineligible to own the policy on your husband. Something to try is to ask her to transfer ownership of the policy to her son so that the money would stay in your immediate family. Or you could buy a policy on your husband to protect your family’s debt. Hopefully he is still healthy and your family will be able to be protected should something tragic happen to him in his working years.
Hi. My mom’s sister is 80 years old and does not have a life insurance policy. She has 3 children that are not in a financial position to pay for her burial. My aunt will not give consent to my mom getting a policy. They are the only children (my mom and her sister). Any input will be greatly appreciated.
Sherl,
This is a common situation and you are not alone. There are many times when a family member wants to purchase life insurance on someone else in the family, but get blocked from doing so. The normal reason that I hear is that the insured (or their children) do not want another person ‘benefiting’ from their death. Even if that money is earmarked for the funeral this objection still comes up in families. The typical policy that is purchased in this scenario if everyone agrees is called a final expense policy. There are two types of final expense policies, guaranteed issue and simplified issued contracts. If you can get underwritten by answering 12-25 questions (simplified issue) this is the route to go as it is priced lower.
On the other hand, when it comes to an 80 year old in the market for life insurance, the cost can become prohibitive per the benefit offered by the carrier. Look at the pricing and do some math before you buy if your aunt agrees to your mother’s request.
My suggestion is to either contact the local funeral home that will be helping your aunts family an seeing what prepay options they provide. Another avenue is to begin a savings account and put some money away each month that can be used for the funeral. A hundred dollars a month in savings will add up to $6,000 in five years without even getting any interest. For funeral planning and individuals in their 80’s, this can be a good solution. If she lives another 10 years, then there will be more than enough, but if she dies within the next few then insurance would have been the better option. If we knew when we were going to die then we all could plan with accuracy, but obviously none of us know when our time will come.
Thanks for the very informative post.
My mother purchased a whole life policy on me when I was three years old. She passed away a few years ago, but the premiums are still getting paid and I receive the annual statements, with my mom’s name c/o me. I am suspecting it’s her husband (who wasn’t in the picture when the policy was created), and I do not have a relationship with him. Do I have any control in either terminating this policy or changing the beneficiary? Who has actual ownership of the policy? I do not feel comfortable with its existence.
Lucy,
You’re welcome. We are doing our best to share knowledge in a non-biased way.
As for the whole life policy on your life, I have a few suggestions. First, since you are receiving statements, it is possible that you are the owner of the contract. A preliminary step before you do anything else is to call the insurance company’s policy holders service department and give them the policy number on the statement and whatever information they request from you. Then ask the representative who the owner of the policy is. It’s possible that the ownership transferred to you if your mother indicated you as a contingent owner on it. If you are the owner, you can do anything you want with it including naming the beneficiary up to loaning or surrendering the policy for its cash value. If this is the case, it is possible that your mothers husband might enjoy a thank you for paying the premiums.
If the representative won’t give you any information about the policy and shares that you are not the owner. At least ask them for the name of the person who is the owner. At your mother’s passing, this life insurance contract would have been an asset of hers and could have transferred to her husband. If this is the case, then the best thing you can do is call him up and ask him if you can buy the policy from him (or ask if he will give it to you). There is a cash value to the contract and if he owns it, then it is his money. Buying it gives him the value and allows you to do what you wish with it. If you choose to keep it, great! If you choose to cash it in and then the policy is no more and you would be even in terms of money, great. It is your choice.
My guess is that you may be the owner of this policy though since the insurance company is sending you statements. It will be worth your time to make a phone call to the insurance carrier.
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I have been procrastinating on this and will give them a call this week.
Hi, I have a co-worker that is going through an issue with health insurance through our employer who went through a third part broker to buy the insurance through blue cross blue choice. He just began offering health insurance starting the first of this year and not long after she purchased the insurance her child’s father who was paying her morgage passed away, leaving no life insurance and her the burden of having to pay the mortgage as well as other smaller bills he was paying and now she can no longer afford the high health insurance premuim that is deducted directly from her checks, half from each biweekly check. She submitted a request to terminate the policy under reason of hardship and was told by the broker it was denied; however his death directly affects her financially. Am I wrong to believe that this should be considered a hardship and make her eligible to terminate during closed enrollment periods?
Wendy,
So sorry to hear about your co-worker. It sounds as though she is facing a very difficult time in her life. The IRS rules for when one can get out of a health insurance plan are here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-55.pdf There isn’t anything that I know of with a hardship rule and health insurance. If her employer has adopted any of the newer rules (not required) that allow her to get out of the cafeteria plan mid-year then she may be able to. This could involve finding a more suitable plan on an exchange. She will have to find out if that provision is included in your company’s plan though.
Another thing to consider is having a conversation with the owner of your company. Our company employs about 40 people and tries its best to help the team members when tragedy strikes. Maybe a short term raise or a bonus? Just a thought. Health insurance is very important so hopefully she does find a way to keep her family covered in some way.
Hi – I came across a policy since my moms passing last week . It was a policy of my dads all I have is a number and that he had borrowed money against it in 2000. He passed in December of 2006 . I called on it and they say my mom didn’t claim this that it was cashed out in September of2006 from his brother . They owned a parts business together. But how would the brother cash out the policy? Wouldn’t my dad have to cash it out ? If he borrowed a loan on it wouldn’t he be the owner and insured?
Sherri,
Our condolences to you and your family for the recent passing of your mother. It sounds as though you are going through mountains of paperwork and looking to gain an understanding of her finances. Hopefully our answer can help you put this question to bed.
Cashing out a policy is typically the term used when someone surrenders a contract. Surrendering a life insurance policy means that the insurance company will cancel the contract and send any of the cash in the policy to the policy owner. Since your dad and his brother owned a parts business together, and his brother cashed it out, then my assumption is that the policy was owned by the business. Since your dad borrowed against it and his brother cashed it in, it would make sense that the owner of the contract was the business.
It is unfortunate that the policy was surrendered a few months before your father’s passing. They, your dad and his brother, paid premiums on a policy for many years and then canceled months before his death. So, not only did your uncle lose a brother, he lost a business partner and the insurance proceeds weren’t there to help him stabilize the business. This must have been a heavy weight on your uncle and I would guess there is a lot of stress on him from this decision they made many years ago to cancel the policy.
My brother’s ex-girlfriend bought life insurance on my Mother many years ago.I recently found out that she is the only beneficiary on it. She no longer speaks with my Mother.I am positive she will not help pay for my Mother funeral expenses if she ever passes away. I don’t want her have any financial gain after my Mother’s death. The policy holder is under my Mother name although it is paid by brother’s ex-girlfriend. My Mother now regrets giving her consent to buy her life insurance. Can my Mother cancel this life insurance or how should we handle this?
Thank you.
Hi Emma,
If your mother is the policyowner she has all the control. Typically the policyowner is also the one that pays, however, and they would be the ones to receive the premium bill each month, so it is a little unusual that your brother’s ex-girlfriend is paying for it.
Being the policyowner though, your mother can change the beneficiary (to you and your brother, for example) or cancel the policy at any time. She can contact the life insurance company to make these changes.
Hello. I have a quick question. My friend has been with her boyfriend for about 8 years. About 3 years ago they both took out policies on one another. He recently just passed of a heart attack. His family has never got along with her and blame her for his death. She was told by them that they would not give her a copy of the death insurance in order for her to claim her benefits. Is there any other way she can receive a copy of the death certificate thank you.
Hi Michelle,
Although a little trickier, your friend does not need her boyfriend’s family’s permission to obtain a death certificate. She will need to contact the county vital records office and request a certified copy. She will fill out an application, pay a fee, and will also need show proof of her relationship with the deceased, a copy of the insurance policy benefits page may suffice.
Hi I was wondering how does a life insurance policy work? he’s 27 I’m 26 my husband also has lupus and is receiving Social Security/Disability can I take out a life insurance policy from him for our 2 year Daughter?
Hi Amanda,
Yes, as long as your husband agrees, you can apply for a life insurance policy on him. You would be the policyowner and beneficiary, he would be the insured. We have a blog post about how lupus may affect buying life insurance that you may be interested in: Life Insurance and Lupus: Buyer’s Guide.
okay so my fiancés mom got life insurance on me and put her self down as the beneficiary as my mom is this even legal for her to do shes saying she can beacouse shes paying for it and because I’m the mother of her grandson.
Hi Amanda,
Did you sign off on any paperwork? It is illegal for someone to buy life insurance on someone else without their consent even if they are paying for it. If you did not consent, your future mother-in-law has no legal right to own life insurance on you. Contact the life insurance company and explain the situation. They can help you.
Hi and thank you for taking the time to answer questions about this topic.
I have two children by a man to whom I was never married, despite the fact that he refers to me as his wife (when he thinks I cannot hear him–strange as that is). We did live together as a family for years. That ended 10 years ago.
He filed for custody of the child who is still a minor, and unfortunately he got it. He is an unstable parent to put it mildly, but I do not have the funds to hire a lawyer and go back to custody court. That part is over–my child will remain in his care until she is a legal adult.
Unless he dies, of course. This is a hot-headed man with a quick and intense temper. His two grandfathers each died cardiac-related deaths in their 50s. One of them has been described as “exactly” like my ex–short temper, long tirades of exhausting fits of rage, etc.
If my ex follows his grandfather’s path and dies a sudden death due to cardiac arrest (or car ceash–he is prone to road rage and drives very dangerously when in a rage) my child would of course need to come back to me. Of course, I would love to have her home with me again, but the problem is that I simply have not got the financial means to provide for her. She will also need funds to pay for a university education after she is no longer a minor.
Is it possible for me to take out a term insurance policy on him? Or would he need to consent? Im afraid he would not consent, because as a controlling (and abusive) man, part of his modus operandi with me was to do his best to keep me broke (he was quite successful). When we lived together as a family he let me know that he had a universal life policy, and that his brother was the beneficiary–not me, despite the fact that we had two children together. I do not think he would allow me to own even a term policy on him. The way their family thinks, my children are THEIRS, not mine. They would likely also fight me for custody of my child if he were to die while my younger child is still a minor at that time. That;s how serious these people are about these family issues.
Secondly, when the brother lost a great deal of money and assets that they inherited from their father’s estate, he became a licensed insurance agent and now earns his living selling mostly life insurance. Is it possible that they could have taken out a lie insurance policy on me without my knowledge?
I am not wishing him to die in his 50s, but it has occurred to me that it is a real possibility given the family history.
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Hi Kab,
You cannot buy a life insurance policy on your daughter’s father without his consent. In addition to his signature and a phone interview, he would likely need to consent to a medical exam as well.
However, knowing this, rest assured that his brother has to follow the same laws and cannot take a life insurance out on you without your consent either.
my sister son and dauther in law bouth my sister a life insurance with out concent with my sister or any family my sister passaway her and the son reseve all the money what can I do.
Ghaamanie,
My condolences to you and your family for the loss of your sister. I am unsure about how to answer your question because I am unclear about your specific question. There are lots of answers to questions similar to this in the comments on this page so I will take a little different approach with my answer. If you would like me to clarify, please just ask again and I will try my best.
You have asked if there is anything you can do because the son received the life insurance proceeds from your sisters passing. I am going to assume that you are asking why you are not entitled to some of the money and how you can go about getting it. There may be reasons you feel that you should be a part of this such as you were the care-taker for your sister, you paid for her funeral, she relied upon you for income, and/or that you were one of the closest people in her life. Even if all of those statements are true, I don’t see a way for the insurance proceeds to go to you.
Life insurance is an asset. It is a contract between an owner and an insurance company on the life of an insured. This contract is legally binding and has protections built into the policy by way of law and regulations. The beneficiary of the contract is chosen by the owner and this is also a legally binding decision. For example, over the years we have seen spouses get divorced and then remarried to another person without changing their beneficiary designations. When that insured dies the current spouse gets nothing and the ex-spouse receives all of the death benefit. This seems unfair to the current family and it is. It is a tragedy on top of a tragedy. But in cases like this the money still passes to the designated beneficiary on the policy. In your case, I can see no way for you to receive a piece of the proceeds from the policy on your sister.
As a side note, any insurance policies or other contracts that have beneficiaries should be reviewed on a regular basis to make sure nothing like this happens in your family.
In 2003 (14 years ago) my husband and I put into place an accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) policy with Stonebridge Life Insurance. The policy covers both of us as follows :
1 million (covers only him) if he dies on a common airline carrier, $100,000 if he dies in an auto accident, and $30,000 for all other accidents as specified in the policy. For myself, I am covered only for $50,000 if I die in an auto accident and $20,000 for all other accidents as specified in the policy. We decided to supplement the life insurance provided by his employer with the AD&D policy because he traveled by commercial airline weekly. I am the main beneficiary and our 2 children (age 8 and 3 at that time) as secondary beneficiaries. The monthly premium is very inexpensive and has been charged to MY Discover card since 2003 and thereon. In 2013 he blindsided me and our 2 children (aged 17 & 13 at the time) with a divorce. Through the divorce negotiations he did not request ownership of the policy be transferred to him in the divorce decree. The Discover card is in my name only and the divorce decree states that I am responsible for all individual indebtedness in my own individual name and indemnify and hold him harmless. My question is can I still be primary beneficiary if he did not request ownership be transferred in the divorce decree? My children are now 21 and 16 and are secondary beneficiaries. I hope I’ve been clear on what I’m asking. I was told the laws are very strict when it comes to ownership of insurance policies.
Marla,
If you wish to keep this policy then by all means go ahead. The sticky part of life insurance ownership is only at the beginning of a policy or upon transfer of a policy to a different owner. Since you are the current owner of the policy (inside of the Discover card), you can do anything with that policy that you like. Keep it, drop it, give it to him, etc. So in answer to your question, you can be the owner and primary beneficiary of the plan and the proceeds should still be tax free if he dies under the policy’s terms. As the owner, you are responsible for continuing to pay the premium and you have every right to the proceeds as well. Please do not stress the ownership rules around life insurance. It might be difficult to buy a new policy on him today, but the old policy is yours to keep.
My father,who is 64 yrs old and dont have any assets other than his homestead suffered Brain injury 2 yrs ago. Since then, my sister has became his Guardian/Conservator. He doesnt have any life insurance and God forbid anything should happen to him, we wouldn’t have the financial means to take care of arrangements. Can she take out a life insurance policy on him since he is unable to consent?
Hi Kathryn,
As for typical term life insurance, I would not advise this route. Because of your dad’s age and health history he may be declined and even if he wasn’t you would end up paying very high premiums.
You and your sister have two options to consider:
a) Start putting the funds you would have spent on life insurance into a savings account that you can access later on for final expenses.
b) Purchase a final expense policy. A final expense policy (also referred to as guaranteed life insurance) requires no medical exam and your father can be insured guaranteed regardless of his health history. You can purchase $5000-$25,000 of coverage for approximately $33-$163 per month. This type of plan is ideal for final expenses such as medical bills and funeral/burial costs.
I really, really need some advisement. I am the oldest of four young adult children. My mother is only 14 years older than me and has been financially reckless and irresponsible for as long as I have been alive. Her ways passed on to my siblings. Either mental or developmental issues, or just plain irresponsible with no means to stick with a mature plan. I dodged that bullet by being raised by another family, but they are dead now and Im all my “real” family has. I take care of EVERYTHING for mom and sis and bros. They are cyclically homeless and never have savings. I pay for bills, food, shelter, meds, everything they need. Its toxic but who can turn their back on family right? I have asked several times for them to think ahead. They surprisingly stick together, but if one of them dies, I know I will be stuck selling fish plates trying to foot the bill. Ill have to actually cover 100% of their living expenses as opposed to maybe the 65% now. I dont want any of them near my house and Im not rich enough to afford bills for two households. Theyve gotten me evicted twice before. They refuse to just meet an insurance agent with me. Laws prevent me from protecting my emotional security and finances in the event they die bcuz I cant get a policy on their behalf. PLEASE HELP! My stress about life would be so much easier knowing that a guilt trip or bankruptcy is not around the corner for me. I will pay the premiums without question. I just need their cooperation and they are so hard to keep up with! Life insurance is responsible of which they are notfamiliar, and no matter how much I beg or illustrate this to them, they just dont think its important. Please what can I do? Im only 32 years old but the stress of this family is driving me to my OWN grave. And no, disowning them is not an option. Ive done that before and they somehow showed up on my doorstep. Thats just not a reasonable thing I can do. So I need to know what options I have. Sorry if Im rambling, Im just really, really desperate. I have two nieces to make sure can still life a decent life in the event mom or sis or bros die and break up the dysfuntional attachment they currently have. Please please help me!
Dear Need Help,
There is so much going on here and I am happy that you’ve taken the time to get it out. You sound like a very responsible and caring individual who understands unconditional love better than most! The main point in your request seems to be the question, “How do I not get stuck selling fish plates to foot the bill for the death of any of my many family members who depend upon me?” I am going to assume that finances are tight for you with all of these people who need you to feed them, pay their bills, or even house them.
Therefore, what I would suggest you do is to NOT buy life insurance on all of them. You are not looking to put very much coverage on any of them, probably just enough for a funeral. At a minimum this would be premium payments for three people, with your mom being the oldest, and it sounds like there is more than 3. This will add up to a large amount of money for you to bear. Your mom alone would have premiums of $75 a month for $10k of guaranteed life insurance.
So, a great option for you is to start up a savings account at your bank with funds that are difficult to access. Then I would encourage you to set up a monthly transfer from your checking into this savings account.
It won’t be long before you have a small pile of money that could be used for any of your family members for a funeral. Then, from a funeral perspective, I would suggest cremation and having a small gathering at your house for the deceased. There is an awesome website called parting.com that compares funeral home pricing across the country or you can call a couple of local funeral homes to ask what the bill would be for cremation only with the lowest price urn.
Within 2 years at $75 a month you should have enough put away to at least pay for the cremation services. If you want peace of mind sooner you may consider upping that savings amount to $100 or $150 a month. If you went the life insurance route and you paid for all of your family members’ premiums it would add up to more than either of these amounts anyhow.
There is an old eastern saying “All the suffering there is in this world arises from wishing our self to be happy. All the happiness there is in this world arises from wishing others to be happy.” May this be true for you, and may you continue to have the diligence to have the patience to give all that love you direct toward your family.
You are not alone. May the love and help you graciously share go with you when you meet Out Lord. ❤🙏
Best of outcome in the future.
First of all, this is a very informative article and post section. Thank for taking time to reply to all these questions.
Here’s my situation; my boyfriend is not legally divorced yet, soon hopefully, it is however in process. His ex is unfortunately a lunatic (of course, right?). She’s been trying to force him to sign life insurance papers for over a year. He has refused every time and told her he’s not interested. He has a policy through work for their kids.
Last time she tried we were at court for another extension of their divorce hearings and she cornered him the hallway and said, I’ll drop the request for alimony if you sign these life insurance papers. WTH??? Who does that? I would say someone who better have eyes in the back of their head!!! (She’s threatened our lives on more than one occasion). Anyway, bottom line, she obviously forged his signature because we just got a letter from Primerica saying Thank you for your recent purchase of life insurance!
My question is, what now? Is that legal? And advice would be greatly appreciated!
Shannon,
Wow! It sounds like you are experiencing big drama with your boyfriend’s ex. Divorces are on a scale from amicable to acrimonious, and this one doesn’t seem to be going well. I have no idea why his ex-wife is so insistent on him having more life insurance, but it obviously is making both him and you uncomfortable. Please note that almost all life insurance policies obtained through work are inadequate and don’t provide enough for a parent’s family. But… the fact that you received a letter from Primerica is absolutely ludicrous!
It is never legal to forge someone’s signature. This is an entirely separate issue if it did happen. The first thing to do here is to call Primerica, hopefully there is a number on that letter (or call 800-257-4725 which is their customer service line). Tell the person on the phone that you think there must be some mistake because you didn’t purchase a policy (your boyfriend is the one that needs to make the call as they won’t speak with you.) Give them the information they ask for. Then begin pushing that you didn’t buy this plan and ask what can be done. If they don’t help you by giving you a satisfactory explanation about the next steps available to you, tell them that you will be contacting your state’s insurance commissioner.
Best of luck. I hope this all gets resolved quickly and that you and your boyfriend can move on in your lives.
hi
i want to buy term insurance for my father . but the question arise is can I do this and if yes then how . my father dosen`t do any work and is seated at home only . So can I buy policy for him and what should I state it as .
Kunal,
I am going to assume you are looking for a small burial policy on your father. If this is the case, you should be able to apply and buy it on him. The bigger question is whether or not your father is insurable. If he is healthy (or relatively healthy) then you will want to look for an underwritten life insurance product. If he is having some serious health issues then he will need a guaranteed issue plan. If the face amount is $25k or less, the insurable interest most likely won’t come into play. You should state it as funeral expenses when applying for the coverage.
hi
I have taken a Term Life Insurance policy for my wife. I am paying all premiums. What happens in case if I die before all the policy premiums are paid. What happens to the policy. Will it lapse? or will my wife be required to pay the remaining premiums?
Hi Salesh, thank you for the question! Life insurance is an asset, even term insurance. Since you are paying the premiums and are the owner of the policy, it is an asset that would be included in your estate. That means that if you predecease her, the policy will most likely go to her. Life insurance policies ask if you want someone to be a contingent owner who will inherit the policy if the owner dies. Many people don’t fill out this portion of the policy. So if you didn’t designate someone to get the policy at your death, then it will pass to your wife.
Life insurance is a one-way contract. That means that the insurance company has to charge you the same premium for the term period and cannot change it. But if you choose to drop the policy, they cannot stop you. So when your wife inherits the policy from your estate, she will have the option of continuing paying for it, or dropping the coverage. It will be her choice and she is not required to continue the insurance policy.
The father of my son is not involved in our lives, he maybe calls once every few months and doesn’t and has never paid any child support. There is no paperwork stating that he’s the father, he did not sign the birth certificate bc he was not present. There is no court order for child support or anything. I decided against all of that, that way he doesn’t have any parental rights and has no say in what I decide to do or where I may move to. He doesn’t deny the child at all. Unfortunately he’s an alcoholic and is going backwards fast, I was wondering if I could start a life insurance policy on him, so if something does happen, he’ll leave his son with something. How should I go about this? He wouldn’t be opposed to having life insurance, but he won’t be able to maintain it, paying premiums etc. Thanks in advance
Hi Yolandi,
With his consent, you could own the policy on your son’s father which would mean you pay the premiums and are in control of it. You can start the process by applying online using his information, but be sure to put his contact information in so the life insurance company is able to contact him to confirm the application, etc.
However, if he is truly unhealthy and going downhill, his medical records and/or habits may deny him from being insurable. It doesn’t hurt to try and get coverage though – there is no cost to you just to apply.
Feel free to give us a call at (844) 786-8229 if you would like one-on-one assistance.
I am interested in getting a life insurance policy on my ex for our child. We were never married and he sporadically pays his child support so I am in a financial bind quite regularly as it is. However, if something was to happen, I would like to have the comfort of knowing that I had a policy to help with our child as I have a policy on myself to help with her. What would I need to do to pull a policy on him? Thanks!
Hi Desiree,
Glad to hear you already have life insurance on yourself to protect your little one just in case. To get a policy on your daughter’s father, you would need what is called insurable interest and his consent. For you the insurable interest likely wouldn’t be an issue since he is the father of your child and his finances do affect your family.
The easiest way to get this done would be for him to apply for life insurance and name you the owner and beneficiary. If he doesn’t want to take the time to do this, you can just tell him you are applying for him and then apply online as him by filling out all his information and then the insurance company would reach out to him via a phone interview to confirm everything. He would also need to sign some papers and likely agree to a medical exam, unless he is eligible for a policy which does not require one.
My husband was with his ex-girlfriend for 27 years. She had him sign something years ago for a 10k policy. She is an insurance agent. Since that time he has reason to believe she has taken many life insurance policies out on him under the 10k limit telling him that he didn’t need to be concerned or to sign anything since it was under that 10k amount. At one time she tried to take out a 100k policy but he refused to answer the questions from the underwriter and although he knew the amount from information that the underwriter gave him, his ex claimed it was under 10k and was merely a new company procedure at State Farm, where she works as an agent, to ask those questions on any policy. She has no more insurable interest in him as their kids are adults and he is now married to me. How can he go about finding out how many life insurance policies she is carrying in his name? And what is his recourse if she forged his name since he only signed something once more that 10 years ago? Thanks for any help you can offer.
Hello,
There are a lot of unknowns in your question and I would love to be able to give you a definitive answer. The first thing I would do in this circumstance is to call the State Farm policy service department at 800-782-8332 and share with them your concerns. The person making the call to State Farm will have to be your husband as they won’t share any information with you even though you are his spouse. They will ask him for his social security number and he can ask for all the policies that are under his name and social. They may or may not provide information as he is not the owner of the contract(s), but he may be able to talk them into sharing about his policies. I wouldn’t immediately start talking about the ex and stuff. Just ask about the policies and be firm. If you find out some goofiness was going on, then you need to call your state’s insurance commissioner and share your story with them. Wishing you the best of luck in this endeavor!
Hi. My husband’s sister has insurance on him with his consent. He consented to it before we were married but I am about to take out a policy because we have 2 children together and 6 between us. Should his sister have a policy on him once I get mine? She has no financial dependency on him which means she won’t be burdened financially should he pass. If she can keep it, then how will her policy affect me and my children in the event he shall pass away?
Hi Dijah,
Great question. His sister has every right to keep the policy. Your husband consented and she still pays to keep it inforce.
Life insurance companies do not allow individuals to be insured for infinite amounts of money. Everyone has an “insurability limit.” For someone 40 years of age or younger, you can typically only be insured up to 25 times your annual income. So, let’s just say your husband is 35 and makes $50,000 annually. This means he probably can be insured for up to $1,250,000. If his sister has a $1,000,000 policy on him, you would only be allowed to purchase a $250,000 policy on him – make sense? This is the only way his sister having a policy has the potential to affect you and your children.
If you both have insurance policies on him and he were to pass away, you both would receive death benefits. One does not cancel the other out or anything like that.
Just found out an uncle cashed in on a policy he bought on his nephew.
Two years ago, cashed in on another policy he bought for the brother, both were untimely deaths. No one was aware he had those policies or how much they were for but I assume they were whole life because he bought them when they were children and they died in their 50’s. The uncle is 90. Is this legal?
Hi Melissa,
Yes, whoever owns the insurance policy (whether it’s term or permanent) has control over it. It’s perfectly legal that your uncle received a death benefit upon the deaths of his nephew and brother if he had policies insuring them.
Ok,so I have 4 small children.Ages 7 down to 1yr old.Me and their father are not together,but he is actively in their lives.Also he doesn’t pay child support but helps me with them.Could I purchase a life insurance policy on him should something happen to him?
Hi Candace,
To purchase a life insurance policy on someone else you need two things: insurable interest and the person’s consent.
Insurable interest basically means you have to prove to the insurance company that your finances would be negatively affected if the person died. Because the person you want insurance on is the father of your children, the insurance company would likely have no problem with you applying to own a policy on him.
When you apply for insurance on this person, he will need to give his consent by signing papers and would likely need to have a medical exam done, depending on the policy. He will also complete a phone interview with the insurance company.
To start the process, you would simply enter in his information when running a quote and applying. The insurance company will call to review and confirm the application with him and later in the process you will be able to note that you would be the owner.
I have three daughters 19, 17, and 16 I have been divorced from their father for nine years. Though he is court ordered to pay child support he never has. Could I take up a life insurance policy on him for our daughters? Would I need his consent?
Hi BB,
First of all, any time you buy life insurance on another person you need their consent. The only case this isn’t true is when a parent is buying life insurance on their minor child. So, yes, you could take a life insurance policy out on him, but he would need to sign papers and likely go through a medical exam.
Second, a court can order some parents to have life insurance though since a court also ordered your children’s father to pay child support and he hasn’t, it’s doubtful he’d listen to the courts regarding life insurance. Also, going to court can be expensive.
Question for you, your daughters are reaching the age of maturity, so for what purpose would you want their father to have life insurance? Typically life insurance is used as income replacement to protect growing families by leaving behind money to pay a mortgage, college tuition, bills, etc. but he hasn’t contributed in regards to any of this. Is your goal to leave your daughters an inheritance? If so, you could take life insurance out on yourself. In this case, a permanent insurance policy would make more sense than a term insurance policy.
I am 54 years of age and am currently unemployed and have been for sometime due to self proclaimed disabilities. I do not receive any disability money from the government, nor do I qualify in receiving it. I have a 19 year old daughter that has Aspergers, & a 16 year old daughter, they both reside with me. Their father is completely out of the picture, & has been so for most of their life. I do not own a business nor do I own my own home, I have absolutely no assets that are of any value. My adult son is full time employed & has been supporting us for the past few years, we reside with him in his rented house. My son pays 99 percent of the bills. I would like to prepare for the future of my children in the event of my death. The question is, can my adult son carry a life insurance policy on me. And if he can, is there a limit in the amount of what he is able to carry? In the event I should find employment, would that change his ability to carrying a policy on me? And if my son carries the policy, does that automatically make him the sole beneficiary to the money being that I want my daughters to be included as well? I also do not know what types of policies there are and which is best suited for my situation. With the information that I had supplied, please feel free to elaborate on it. I have never looked into life insurance before now, and have not contacted an agent due to the fact that I would not even know where to began or the proper questions to ask. Thank you in advance to anyone that can give me cohesive information pertaining to my questions.
Gena,
There is a lot going on here and would be happy to talk through more of this on the phone with you. Feel free to contact us at (844) 786-8229 and one of our advisors can discuss your scenario in detail.
Here goes a very general answer to most of your questions. The first concern I have is whether you are insurable. I am unsure about what you mean by self-proclaimed disability. Let’s assume that you are insurable though, and that we can get you medically underwritten for a life insurance policy. The next question is how much life insurance do you qualify for? Normally this is determined based on a multiple of income that a person is providing their family. It sounds like you are currently unemployed and that your son is the one providing for the family. If your son were to pass away your family would be financially devastated at this time. He is the one who needs a life insurance policy and a term insurance plan would be perfect for him.
That is not what you have asked though, and I assume that you would like to be able to leave your daughters and son an inheritance of some sort, and possibly more for your daughter with Asperger’s Syndrome as she may be in need of some permanent care. Since this is what you are considering doing, the first thing for you to figure out is how much money you want to put into life insurance on a monthly basis. Keep in mind that you will have to pay this premium for many years to come and can’t/shouldn’t miss a payment. Having your son as the owner will be very difficult (unless it is a small burial policy), and so you should be the owner and your children would then be beneficiaries of the contract. Again, please contact us at (844) 786-8229 directly so we can help you further.
My sister has a life insurance policy on our father. She is the beneficiary. I was wondering if I could take another insurance policy on our father.
Hi April,
The answer to your question is: Maybe. It depends on two things.
The first is how much life insurance coverage your sister purchased on your father. Life insurance companies won’t allow an individual to have an infinite amount of coverage. When life insurance companies evaluate applications, one of the steps is financial underwriting. The purpose of this step is to make sure the individual applying for life insurance (the insured) isn’t over-insured. Life insurance companies want to make certain that someone isn’t worth more dead than alive. For example, if an insurance company determines your father can only be insured up to $1,000,000 and your sister has a $1,000,000 insurance policy on him, then you wouldn’t be able to purchase any more coverage on him. If she only purchased $500,000 then you also may be able to purchase up to $500,000.
The second is whether you have insurable interest. Insurable interest means you have to prove that you would suffer some sort of financial hardship if your father passed away. When it comes to parents and children, it typically isn’t difficult to prove insurable interest.
None of my siblings have a job or life insurance. If any of them were to pass away, the burden of paying for a funeral would fall on my shoulders. Is it possible to get a policy, just enough to cover burial expenses, on each of my siblings?
Hi Barb,
Obtaining small burial policies on your siblings is likely to not be an issue, but these policies can be pricey. If your siblings are still relatively young, you instead could open a savings account and use the money for burial expenses.
Can I get a court order to get life insurance on my childrens father? He will not agree for me to take out a policy on him. He owes thousands of dollars of court ordered child support. What direction should I go in order to get a court order. I would pay for the policy and my kid would be the beneficitary
Erin,
The court regularly orders life insurance in separation and divorce decrees for child care and/or spousal support. Each state tends to act a little differently in their law, but you most likely would be able to get a court to order him to buy a life insurance policy. You already know this, but if you can make sure the policy is owned by you, then you have more control. If he stops paying, your child loses! You won’t let that happen if it is owned by you. My suggestion is to have a conversation with your family law attorney about how to go about making this happen.
My mother claims she has life insurance on me which I was not aware of before her telling me. I am actually married and the only life insurance I signed for is the insurance my husband has on me. Is it possible that she does have insurance on me?
Hi Lillie,
Yes, it is possible. It sounds like your mother may have purchased a child whole life policy on you when you were younger. Parents can purchase these policies on their minor children and there is no consent needed from the child.
What if you receive a 1099-INT on policy and have to claim it on my taxes? Policy was purchased by mother when I was a child why do I have to claim this interest when she is benefiting from this? How do I get this fixed?
Jeri,
It is interesting that you got the 1099 but say that your mother is benefiting. Whomever is the owner of the policy would receive a 1099 and so that must be you. Since you are the owner, then you can change the beneficiary at any time and can name anyone else besides your mother even though she purchased the policy.
As for the 1099, I have never heard of a life insurance policy that will send out a 1099 unless there was a withdrawal from the policy and the policy is something called MEC (modified endowment policy).
What you need to do is to call the insurance company and get to the policy service department. Then ask for a manager to help you out there. There are a lot of strange pieces to this puzzle and someone needs to ask you questions to determine what exactly is going on.
My ex-husband is being very persistent about the fact that he wishes to purchase a life insurance policy that names him as beneficiary if anything should happen to me. This idea makes me uncomfortable. I have declined this suggestion, and he has become unnecessarily nasty about it. I already have my own policy, and have told him as such, but he doesn’t believe me, and says that he can take one out on me, with or without my consent. Is that true??
Hi Beth,
No, your ex-husband cannot purchase life insurance on you without your consent. The life insurance company would require signatures from you and, with most policies, would also ask that you submit to a medical exam. Sorry to hear you are going through these stresses, but hopefully this answer puts your mind at ease.
Can my boyfriend purchase life insurance on my child, he is not the father?
Sally,
The best way for you to purchase a policy on your child is for you to be the owner and beneficiary of the contract. It sounds like your boyfriend is taking responsibility for your family which is wonderful. My suggestion would be to have your boyfriend give you the premiums for the policy and have you pay them to the insurance company. It will get a little sticky in underwriting with him owning a life insurance policy on your child. But having you be the owner and him helping you with the premiums is another way this supportive man can engage with the family.
My brother just told me he has a life insurance policy on me. I don’t provide finanxial to him & I never signed or did medical test what can I do about this?
Catherine,
Your brother most likely bought a smaller policy from a no-exam type company. These policies are typically much higher in price than policies from highly reputable companies. That being said, your question is what can you do? What I would do is to ask your brother why he bought a policy on you. It sounds like you don’t want him to have one and feel violated by his act. If you can ask him to share the name of the life insurance company, then you may be able to resolve this situation. If you know the name of the insurance company, you can call them and explain to the carrier that you didn’t consent to the policy, and then ask them what steps they need you to do for the policy to be rescinded. This may be a viable option and you won’t know unless you try.
My Mamma was terminally ill… My Aunt always took care of her financially would she be able to take out a life insurance policy without her children’s knowledge?
Josh,
I think I understand your question, but let me summarize what you are asking: Is it possible that your aunt purchased a life insurance policy on your mom without you and your siblings knowing about it. If that is what you are asking, then the answer is a definite maybe. For your aunt to have purchased a larger policy on your mom, she would have to have been the person receiving the financial support. Since it sounds like your mom was the one who was being cared for, then from an insurable interest perspective your mom’s death would not have negatively impacted your aunt’s finances. So I can’t see a larger policy being owned by your aunt with your mom as the insured. A smaller burial policy definitely could be out there though.
Now that being said, your mom always had the right to purchase and own a policy on herself and make your aunt the beneficiary of the proceeds. Once a person owns a life insurance policy they have the ability to change the beneficiary to whomever they want and change as often as they like. So it is very possible that your aunt received life insurance proceeds if this is the case.
My nephew moved in with my dad two years ago. I feel he did this for a reason. He is very untrustworthy and him and his mother and sister have done dishonest things for money. He has told things and said things that make me believe that he may be there for a purpose and to take an insurance policy out on my dad which is 86 years old. How can I find out if this is so ?
Sherry,
I feel for you and the stress this situation is putting on you. There are a lot of tactics someone can use to take advantage of the elderly’s finances. In this scenario, my suggestion would be to not worry about any of these tactics utilizing life insurance. You mention that you want to find out if they took out a life insurance policy on your father. There are only a handful of companies that even offer life insurance to people who have lived a life as long as your dad, and the premiums are very high. It is difficult to get a policy, unless your dad is in very good health, and even then, the premiums will exceed the death benefit within 7-10 years.
Since you are concerned something fishy might be going on, I would read up on this article from the National Institute of Health about Financial Abuse of the Elderly in Domestic Setting. This is a dense walk through of various types of financial abuse and tell-tale signs.
Can I take out a Life Insurance Policy on my Grandma who is 78 but is in relatively good health? I am dependent on her financially
Hi Jonetia,
Thank you for your question. You can obtain life insurance on someone else if there is insurable interest and because you rely on your grandma financially, you likely would be able to obtain life insurance on her.
If you want more information about what types of plans would be available, please give us a call (844) 786-8229 and ask to speak with our permanent life insurance consultant.
Am I able to purchase a life insurance policy on my son’s father? We have never been married, however, he does provide court ordered financial support for our son. I am contemplating purchasing life insurance as our son, who has special needs, requires extensive financial support from his father.
And do I understand correctly that I would in fact need the consent of my son’s father prior to taking out a policy?
Hi LaTasha,
I can’t see any reason why you couldn’t purchase life insurance on your son’s father. His financial support is meaningful and necessary to support your family and that is truly the purpose of life insurance. The only hurdle it sounds like you would have is that you will need consent from his father. For you to get the best rates he most likely will need and exam and his medical records will be retrieved by the insurance company. There is paperwork that he will have to sign as the insured. You can be the owner/payer and beneficiary of the policy, but as the insured his signatures and consent is required.
I am POA for my mother, she needs life insurance policy without it would be a financial burden on me. She lives in a nursing home, cannot have any assets. I will be paying the monthly bill. I reside in another state. My question is what address and state should be used for her policy?
Thank you,
Marsha,
Sorry to hear that your mother is in a nursing home. Caretaking is a both a blessing and burden. I have watched my parents become POA for their parents and a great aunt and help them through the final stage of life. I hope she isn’t suffering too much.
As for a life insurance policy on your mother. The only type of plan that would be available is a guaranteed final expense policy. These policies have what is called a graded death benefit and the cost is steep. What a graded death benefit means is that during the first 2 years (depending on the contract) the death benefit is equal to premiums paid and sometimes includes a little interest on top of that. If your mom lives for at least two years, then the full death benefit of the policy will pay out. If you are looking for a good plan like this please feel free to give us a call here at Quotacy (844) 786-8229 and we can help you find one.
The policy should be issued in the state of the owner. In this scenario you are the owner so you will use your state and address for the life insurance.
How about when your exwife who sells life insurance policies takes out multiple policies on you using your brother for the medical exam and trying to “cash in early”. Since I’m still alive, my first question is: do I own any equity in the policies? #2 If so how do I collect my vested interest in staying alive? #3 How would you begin to expose career frauds so huge it brings meaning to “truth hurts”? I’m all ears….
Chris,
If you believe she has acted in an unethical or fraudulent way, you have the right to call the insurance commissioner of your state. Life insurance is monitored at the state rather than the federal level. Google your state and insurance commissioner and make a call to that office to share what you believe is going on. They typically will open an investigation.
Your comments on what your ex-wife is doing sounds strange. I am not sure what you mean by cash in early, although for the purpose of answering your question I am going to make an assumption. Since life insurance only pays out a death benefit when there is a death, the only way to cash in early is to use the life insurance as a savings vehicle. When someone over funds a life insurance contract up to the MEC limit, they do grow cash value. The amount of growth is modest (some companies do illustrate between 4-5% compound growth over 20 years), but there can be a strong conservative cash balance in a life insurance policy. So my assumption is that she is over funding a contract on your life with the hopes of growing cash value inside of it.
If that is what you mean by cashing in early, then this is legal and even encouraged by insurance companies. So do you own any of the equity in the contract? That depends. Do you own any of the policies? It is the owner of the contract who has control of the cash value and the beneficiary designations. If your ex-wife is the owner of the contract and your only role was to be the insured, then you won’t have access to the equity in the policies. If you don’t have any ownership and she bought them while you were still married, then you can look at the divorce decree to see if she should have transferred ownership of the policies to you.
The answer to your question #2 only applies if you have ownership in the life insurance policy. If you do, then you can call the insurance company and request a withdrawal or loan from the contract. This may require a signature from her as well if she is also an owner of the contract.
Hi,
I have an urgent question to ask.
My husband I just bought a new home. He is the sole breadwinner for the family, as well as the single signer for the mortgage.
However, he refuses to take up an insurance to insure the loan amount owed to the bank.
Is there any way I could get an insurance under his name, citing the fact that although he’s my husband, he is also just the single owner of the mortgage loan. Many thanks..
Hello,
Congratulations on getting a new home! A new home comes with a mortgage and since your husband is the sole breadwinner it makes sense for there to be a life insurance policy on his life. I don’t know of a way for you to take a policy out on him without his knowledge and approval, but there are some easier ways to go about getting him coverage if he is willing. There is a company called SBLI that will underwrite an individual age 50 and under up to $500k of coverage without requiring an exam. Their pricing is very good and all that he would need to do is get on a phone call for about 20 minutes to take the application. From there everything is done behind the scenes and he won’t have to meet with an examiner to take fluids. That would be my suggestion. If he is completely unwilling to be part of the underwriting process, then I don’t know any way for you to get him a policy. You can be the owner and beneficiary of a policy on his life, but he really does need to agree to get underwritten and sign some forms.
Can. Some body have a life insurance on me without you knowing it
Hi Gwendolyn,
Legally, you need someones’s consent/signature to obtain life insurance on them. Oftentimes there is even a medical exam required of the to-be insured.
If someone forged your signature and chose a no-exam required policy without your consent, then this is fraud. Thankfully, this occurrence is rare because life insurance companies work hard and have many obstacles in place to prevent this.
if someone has forged your signature how can you find out
Jackie,
Great question. I assume you are asking if someone buys life insurance on you and forges your signature, then how do you find out? The only way that I know of to find out would be to google “lost life insurance.” There are many fee-based services that are built to help beneficiaries find out if someone had a life insurance policy after they die. These private company you would want to work with is one that will send out emails and letters to all the life insurance companies on your behalf to see if there is a policy in your name. This can be costly and not sure that it is an avenue anyone would go down unless there were life proceeds involved (such as finding a policy that your grandpa owned after he died).
One other option is to try the MIB Policy Locator Service. This doesn’t work for policies under $100k of death benefit and most policies in the database have been fully underwritten. For this service to work the unethical individual would have had to pretend to be you and most likely took a physical. Probably not a solution for you in this case, but it is a great service if you think there is a policy out there on a loved one who has died. There is a small upfront charge for the MIB service.
Hope these suggestions help.
My mother resists making any pre-arrangements or purchase life insurance, smugly insisting that my sister’s and I will take care of everything. Only, none of us have extra funds just lying around to pay for her burial expenses when the time comes, and while her passing is most likely some time away, with the rising costs of funeral expenses, I’m concerned what that burden may be. The other issue is her managing money. I fear if she knew I had a burial policy for her, she would be tempted to run up her debts thinking this insurance would pay everything. How can I get insurance for a modest amount to cover burial without her having access to make any changes or really even know the amount the policy is for. Honestly, because of her attitude that we will take care of everything, regardless of what the financial burden would be on us, I really don’t want her to give her the satisfaction of knowing I purchased insurance for her, but I worry what it will financially cost my family if I don’t do something.
Sabrena,
You are in a conundrum and it makes sense that you want to make sure that the burden of a funeral isn’t hefted upon the family. It is great that your mom is still healthy and most likely has many years of life ahead of her. In reading between the lines, it sounds like you are asking if there is a way to purchase a life insurance policy on your mom without her knowing about it. You stated that your mom might use that as a reason to run up debt.
So let’s tackle the debt situation first. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for creditors to pass the debts of a parent onto their children. This happens on occasion where disreputable lenders try and get their money from a person’s heirs, but unless you have co-signed a loan with her, it is not your problem. A creditor will be able to collect first from her estate before you or your siblings, but they cannot go after you to pay back any loans. So if your mom runs up a lot of debt in the last years of her life and dies with the debt unpaid, you are not accountable for that debt. Hopefully that will give you some solace.
As for what you purchasing a life insurance policy on her without her knowing…that is an issue. Insurance companies want the insured to know that there is a policy on their life. So I don’t have a solution for you that involves you being able to buy a policy on your mom and have her stay in the dark about it. But there are a couple of solutions. One of them is to find the funeral home that you will be using to help with your mom’s funeral and go talk with them. Many funeral homes have options to create an installment plan to pre-fund a funeral. With this solution, you, and any of your siblings you could convince to help, could begin a small payment plan and make sure the funeral isn’t a burden.
Another thing you could do is to create a savings account at your local bank and begin putting money away for the funeral. You wouldn’t want to touch this money for any other reason than your mom’s funeral, but it would allow you to create a sinking fund large enough to cover the expenses. This approach takes more discipline than pre-funding a funeral or paying premiums on a policy because you would always have access to that money.
Whether it is a pre-funded funeral or savings account, both should be treated like premiums into a life insurance policy. Make the payment every month and don’t allow yourself to skip or withdraw money. If you could put away $100 a month for the next 8 years, you will be able to create an asset over $10,000 with interest. With the savings account look into any options (such as CDs) to get a better return on your investment than just an interest bearing savings account that pays very little interest.
My question was not listed. I bought my home when I was 25 and my mother is the co-signer on my home. She helps me pay rarely but if something happens her share of the property would be divided between myself, my 2 brothers and father. They could force me to buy them out when they have never paid or had anything to do with the house. Can I take out a life insurance policy in cause they decide to try and take my home.
Hi Alicia,
Thank you for your question. The ability to purchase life insurance on someone is completely based on whether there is insurable interest, and there is in your situation. Since your mother is the co-signer on the loan on your home, you would be completely financially responsible for the loan balance if she died, therefore, her death would have a direct impact on you financially. This should be reason enough for an insurance company to approve you purchasing life insurance (coverage totaling the amount of the mortgage loan) with your mother as the insured.
Please let us know if we can help you further.
Can I buy a life insurance policy on my 34 year old daughter ? She is married but separated ,and has 5 children, with him , in her custody .Her primary source of income is child support , although she works occasionally . My concern is for the care of her children if something were to happen to her .Unfortunately her husband has some extreme views regarding health care and as the children have medical and or developmental issues, he would not be a suitable custodian if she were to die.I would be her choice to step in to take care of them but that would impair my earning ability . I have a life insurance policy through my employer and I do not want to involve her husband in the process and would like to have one right away with no medical exam required. What type of policy would be best ? In what amount ? Should I be the beneficiary or should I name her children ? Thanks for your help .
Max,
Five children is a big responsibility. I am not so sure that you will be able to buy a life insurance policy on your daughter due to insurable interest, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a solution. First, has she put a will together? A will would help a court determine who would be the custodian of her children if she were to die. My guess is that the children still would go to their father, but if he was unable to take care of the them, then a will would show the court her prior wishes for you to be their caretaker.
Also, the state you live in is an important factor. If she lives in a community property state, then there will be specific rules about whether or not some of the life insurance proceeds would go to her husband. I am not a lawyer, so this opinion is based on experience rather than law. If you decide upon finding a way to protect your grandchildren with life insurance, then it makes sense to get counsel. Besides what I will lay out below, using a strategy with a trust drafted by an experienced lawyer to own the life insurance could alleviate some of the concerns. A lawyer’s counsel can be expensive, but may well be worth the investment.
How to do this without a lawyer: As for the specifics of how to go about getting a policy, my opinion is for her to own the policy. As mentioned earlier, there doesn’t seem to be insurable interest in you owning the policy on your daughter as you don’t rely upon her income. It probably is the other way around and she relies on you from time to time. If she buys a policy and names her children as the beneficiary through either UGMA or UTMA, then the children’s guardian will have access to those funds. This could, and most likely would, be the children’s father.
If she puts a will together and names you as guardian and wills you her assets (again, look up your state and its community property laws) then you could receive a portion (or all) or the insurance proceeds to take care of the children. To do this, your daughter could take out a policy on herself and name herself as the beneficiary. You would have to wait through probate before receiving the portion of her assets from her will, so it won’t be as clean as a normal beneficiary designation where the beneficiary has access to the funds very shortly after the death of the insured.
The husband most likely won’t have to sign off on anything and she could go ahead and apply for the coverage. You can “gift” her the premiums for the policy so they aren’t a burden on her family, although she is the one who would write the check to the insurance company. Since she isn’t working very much there might be some financial justification, but obviously 5 children is a full-time job and most insurance companies will understand that.
My suggestion for no medical exam is for her to go with SBLI. This is a solid insurance company that has been around since the beginning of the 20th century and they don’t require medical exams on their term insurance policies that are $500,000 and less. They still order up medical records and the process for getting coverage typically takes between 3 – 8 weeks. The rates for the coverage are very low and a 20 year term insurance plan should cover the kids into adulthood.
Hope this helps.
I have a sister who doesn’t have a current life insurance policy. She would like one but can’t afford the monthly payments. I am her sister and pay the majority of her bills every month. I will be responsible should she die, for her burial expenses. I could pay her premiums but even if she names me as her beneficiary, would her husband, (separated due to abuse, but he won’t pay for divorce and she can’t afford one) still be entitled to any insurance pay out. She lives in TX, a community property state. He won’t pay for anything for her and hasn’t for years, I help support her. When you mention I durable interest – any beneficiary would benefit – that’s what insurance is for – but I wouldn’t want to pay her premiums and her husband then be able to get the insurance payout and then I’d still be the family member who would pay for the burial expenses.
Any advice?
Katrina,
You sound like a compassionate and benevolent sister. Your kindness in being there for your sister is awesome! You are correct about Texas being a community property state, so if your sister owns a life insurance policy and names you as the beneficiary, her husband could push to have half the benefit go to him when she dies. We could try and have you own a small whole life plan for funeral expense with her as the insured and you as the beneficiary, but that option has its challenges due to insurable interest.
There is a cleaner way of doing this though. The solution is for you to have your sister buy a life insurance policy on herself with her as the beneficiary. After the policy is placed in force, you will wait a couple of months and then have her transfer ownership of the life insurance plan to you as a gift. In this case, the donee steps into the shoes of the donor. Thus, the entire proceeds of the policy will retain the same tax advantages as it had when she was the owner. There can be no letter between the two of you saying that you will pay for her funeral with the proceeds of the plan, or any other quid pro quo between you. This transaction is her freely gifting you her life insurance policy with no strings attached.
It is best to do this in the first year of the policy as the gift amount is equal to the premiums paid, and after the first year the value of a life insurance policy gets more complicated to calculate. The reason to wait a couple of months is to let the dust settle on the underwriting process. If she buys a policy and immediately transfers ownership, then the insurance company may feel compelled to challenge the reason the policy was purchased in the first place.
I understand about “insurable interest” but, can I have my parents(remarried to other ppl) take out a term life policy, name me as the beneficiary but, I will make the monthly payments? My dads wife just keeps getting them into more debt behind his back. My moms husband is an alcoholic and drug abuser who will probably sell the home and property that has been in our family for over 100 years.
Brian,
It saddens me to hear about the stressful relationships both of your parents seem to be in. The answer to your query is: Maybe. Let’s talk about insurable interest for a moment though as your question relates almost exclusively with insurable interest.
If the parents are the ones applying and there is a need for insurance, such as estate tax need or possibly income replacement need or they have some loans, then they should be able to buy a policy.
Your parents have some assets and it sounds like you are worried that the extended family could be spending those assets or depleting them. We’ve had situations where, if we can explain why you are paying the premiums, the insurance company may be okay with you paying the premium because your parents still would own the policy and have control of both the policy and the beneficiary designation.
The question comes down to the need for the insurance for your parents. I am not sure how we can advocate for you to be the beneficiary. What is your financial loss when one of your parents die? It sounds like you are looking at future inheritance that they might waste, but unfortunately they don’t owe you that inheritance. The insurance companies will say that parents do stupid things all the time and the children aren’t guaranteed an inheritance. So that argument is not a viable insurable interest in the eyes of an insurance carrier.
This all starts with insurable interest. Future inheritance is not guaranteed unless it is set up into some sort of irrevocable trust. Parents and children do things all the time that we are not happy with. But those are their decisions to make. We would need to be able to demonstrate the insurable interest for you to be the beneficiary on the policy. If a viable insurable interest can be created (meaning there is a financial loss to you if you were to lose one of your parents), then an insurance company would take the risk and allow you to pay the premiums and be the beneficiary.
Question: can you change the insured person on a current policy to someone else?
I own it.
I pay for it.
Hi Holly,
Thank you for your question. The answer to this is a simple one: Probably not. There are a few life insurance policies that have a rider that will allow an insured to be changed to someone else with full underwriting. These are permanent life insurance plans that were sold mainly to companies for key person insurance. The reason this is available is to allow the cash value of the contract to stay within the company, but change out the insured of the policy when a C-Suite executive moves out of the job and someone else moves into it.
Other than this rider there is no way to change out the insured. The reason for this is that all of the risk (covered by premiums) of the life insurance policy is based on the insured’s mortality. Since you have a policy on someone else and are paying for it (and are the beneficiary) then your best option is to buy a new policy on the other person you would like to insure. Hopefully there is insurable interest between you and this other individual so that the insurance company will allow you to buy a new plan.
My father purchased a insurance policy a year ago and listed me as his primary beneficiary. He has recently became ill. I have taken over the roll of payor and have been making his monthly payments. My father is married to a woman who is not my husband mother and has threatened to cancel his policy or change the beneficiary to herself. So that i recieve nothing. She is in charge of my father being that he’s gravely Ill and cant make decisions for himself at the time. Can she change it? Or how do i protect the policy if possible? Its the state of Tennessee with Newyork ife insurance if that info helps
Cheyenne,
Sorry to hear about your father’s illness. You mentioned that he is gravely ill and can’t make decisions for himself. I wonder if his wife has power of attorney to make financial decisions on his behalf. If that’s the case, then it comes down to whether it is a general power of attorney (also known as general power of appointment) or a limited power of attorney.
A general power of attorney allows an individual to pretty much make all financial decisions. This would include being able to cancel a life insurance contract (assuming he is the owner of the policy) or to even rename the beneficiary from you to her. A limited power of attorney typically allows for medical care and some financial decisions which will be spelled out in writing.
A power of attorney normally is put into place at the time a will is being written. If she doesn’t have a power of attorney and is acting on his behalf because he is very sick, then she most likely would have to get in front of a magistrate to sign on his behalf to change the life insurance policy. Your question can only be answered by knowing how much power over his financial affairs she has been granted by your father through the legal process.
I am not a lawyer so this is just general information that might help guide you to find more experienced counsel. This link may be helpful in case you want to read more about how a power of attorney works: Power of Attorney.
I’ve looked through all the questions and answers and cannot find the one with my situation. I am divorced but have had a relationship with a married man for the past 37 years. He does not live with me but helps me out financially, not much but still helps. I want to know if I can take out a life policy or term life policy on him.
Hi Susan,
Thank you for your question. This is an interesting one and we haven’t answered it yet in any of our responses. In short, the answer is that you most likely can purchase coverage on him.
The way for you to buy and own a life insurance policy on your man is to use the area of insurable interest called income replacement. Since you have been in a long term relationship and will name him as your boyfriend of 37 years on the application we can say that you are dependent upon his income for your standard of living. To determine a reasonable amount of insurance begins by looking at how much financial support he supplements you with and multiply that annual amount by what the income replacement charts allow. This would be the maximum amount of coverage a carrier would allow you to purchase on him.
Here is an easier way of explaining this strategy through an example. Since I don’t know either of your ages I will use an example assuming you both are 55 years old. So first, let’s say he is supplementing your income in the amount of $2k a month or $24k annually. We then use a multiplier of income for an individual who is 55 years old, and most insurance companies allow between 10 and 15 times income for this age. Assuming we used the lower 10 times multiplier we could apply for a $250k ($24k x 10 and round up a bit) policy that you own on him and you would also be the beneficiary of this contract. The purpose of this insurance policy is for you to be made whole financially if he were to die too young.
He would still have to go through the underwriting process which would include an exam, and he would be part of the buying process since the policy is on his life.
Hello,I befriended a senior who is 10-12yrs older than me. I am currently homeless and he is a homeowner in the next county from me. He helps me out occasionally with cash and food.He asked me to help him out with a life insurance for his daughter, which I did for him. In doing so we noticed insurance plans can be made for non family members. Our question would be, can he get a life insurance with another company other than the one he has with his daughter with me as the beneficiary. Also can I put out a policy naming him as beneficiary. This would be our way of helping each other out being how we both are struggling and both care about each other. Thank you in advance for being kind enough to take the time to answer our questions. Have a BEAUTIFUL and DELIGHTFUL DAY!
Hi Byat,
I feel for your homelessness. Hopefully you will have a permanent residence soon. If I understood you, you are inquiring if you can get life insurance on yourself and name your friend beneficiary and if your friend can buy life insurance on himself and name you beneficiary, correct? When it comes to insurance there needs to be something called insurable interest. If you were to die, this would not impact his financial future in a negative way. Therefore the companies don’t consider this an insurable interest. And since your friend just helps you out once in awhile, but doesn’t actually provide for you, there would be no insurable interest here either, at least in the eyes of the insurance companies.
The insurance companies offer insurance policies on individuals for the purpose of the person who will receive the benefit to not suffer financially because of the loss. They shy away from insuring individuals where the beneficiary would stand to gain if the insured died. Since you both are struggling financially and figuring out how to just get by, my suggestion would be to use the money you were thinking of spending on an insurance plan to make improvements in your life.
Wish you the best, and hope that you land on your feet very soon.
My sister and I will soon have to deal with the passing of our mother.
We have tried to talk to her about last wills and power of attorney and so on,but it was too much for all of us. I never considered taking out L.I. on my own mother before. I’m wondering is it unethical to do so
I am sorry to hear about the passing of your mother soon. The short answer on whether it is unethical to buy life insurance on your mom is “No, that’s not unethical at all.” Many children own life insurance policies on their parents or are beneficiaries of trusts that own a life insurance for the children’s benefit.
A couple of things to note though. First, to buy a life insurance policy on an adult you need to have their consent and almost always also get their signature on the application. They also typically go through an exam and sign forms that allow the insurance company to request their medical records. Are you planning on letting your mom know you are going to buy life insurance on her? If not, then there may be an ethical dilemma.
Second, if your mom is very sick and approaching death, then it is almost impossible to buy a life insurance contract on her besides a final expense policy. Life insurance is insurance. The companies underwrite people to see how long that person will live and if they are comfortable with the risk, then they offer a policy. If someone has only a few years to live based on their health, the insurance companies won’t sell you a policy.
The only caveat to this is that there are final expense policies in the market. These are insurance policies where only the premiums are refunded if the insured dies within the first 2 or 3 years. After that the policy does pay out the death benefit. This graded benefit policy is meant to discourage people from taking out a policy when they know they are about to die. There is no benefit to doing that as you go through all the work and just get back only what you put in. The other con for a final expense policy is the cost. They are typically very pricey and you should analyze the premiums going into the policy versus how much death benefit there is. Many times people pay in more in premiums than they get back in death benefit with final expense if the insured lives for more 7-9 years. They are great for funeral expenses if you are sure that someone is going to die in the 3-5 years though.
Are there any other questions we can answer to help you?
I have a family member that opened life insurance on my child without my permission. How do I get it canceled?
Hi,
This is an interesting question that I haven’t run into before. The main reason people take life insurance policies out on children is for the living benefit. They typically include provisions for the child to buy more insurance when they get older without evidence of insurability. This works very well for the child if they are struck by serious health issues and reach adulthood without the ability buy insurance. It gives the child the ability to still purchase significant amounts of insurance to protect their loved ones.
There isn’t enough information for me to know why the insurance was purchased on the child, but hopefully it was to protect the child’s interests later in life rather than a ‘benefit’ to the owner/beneficiary of the policy if the child dies during their formative years.
You didn’t mention what type of family member bought the insurance on your child, and that may play into whether or not you can get the contract cancelled. Are you willing to share the name of the insurance company and we can make a call to the carrier? We would look for whether or not a parent has to sign off on the application for coverage. From that answer we can find out if you have the ability to get the policy cancelled. Every insurance company has different rules, so without the carrier’s name it is difficult to address your concern head on.
Since you are not the owner of the contract today, there is nothing you can do to cancel the life insurance policy. Therefore, the way to go about this is to see if anything was done during the purchasing of the policy that was in the grey or ugly zone. Such as if the family member pretended they were you and gave permission on your behalf.
T Coke, Hello, I was wondering the same thing. My sister has claimed my daughter in her income tax without my knowledge and this was yearssss ago. I wonder what else I do not know. If you find out how to figure out if a family member took out life insurance on our child (which my daughter is now over 18) let me know. I think about all this all the time. My sister has been on everyones will and insurance claims.. thanks,
I need tto take out a life insurance policy for my aunt. I want to list myself as the owner, wih her consent, and list myself as the benitificiary. I will make the payments. If anything was to happen, will the insurance company take care of the expenses or will it be on me? I’ve also seen the term “insured interest” quite a few times on the web. What exactly does that mean in the most simplified form?
Thank you for your question.
In order to take a life insurance policy out on your aunt, you need insurable interest first. What this means is that you need to be able to prove that if your aunt died, you would suffer from financial loss. An example of having insurable interest would be if you live with your aunt, or if she financially provides for your well-being. Writing up a cover letter for the insurance company explaining why you need life insurance on your aunt is the best way to try and get your application approved. However, it may be easier for your aunt to own the policy on herself and name you the beneficiary.
With a life insurance policy, if the insured person dies, the life insurance company will pay out a death benefit to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries can use this money for funeral expenses, medical bills, mortgage payments, etc. The life insurance company will not take that money and pay the expenses for you, they simply write a check out to the beneficiaries.
Please contact us directly if you have any more questions or would like to discuss the matter further.
Hello! I have a nephew who has been separated from his wife for 6+ months now and he is filing for divorce. He recently found out that his soon to be Ex may have taken out a life insurance policy on him without his consent or knowledge. They own nothing together and she has kids by a previous marriage so they don’t have no financial responsibility to each other at all. Can she legally keep this policy on him? And what can he do legally to protect himself and from her?
Shelly,
Break-ups are so hard. Here are a couple of things to consider when it comes to life insurance.
First, I don’t know of a way for a spouse to purchase life insurance on their partner without their partner’s consent. When a life insurance policy is taken out on a person, they are considered the insured. There are numerous places on the application for the insured to sign and give consent.
Second, there are a few carriers (and more coming) that have great prices but don’t require a medical exam. This is very new to the market though (except for some high priced companies out there). If he didn’t consent to a policy, then she had to forge his signature and find an expensive policy that didn’t require a medical exam.
And lastly, if she forged his signature, that is fraud! It means the policy most likely wouldn’t even pay out the death benefit if he were to die. Insurance companies don’t appreciate fraudulent cases and what they do in case of fraud is refund the premiums paid. If he did sign off on the policy when it was put in place, then she has the right to keep paying the premiums.
You also asked what can he do to legally protect himself from her. I am not a lawyer. But many times spouses who don’t have an amicable divorce require the life insurance ownership to be transferred in the divorce decree. That would be one suggestion for something he could do. He could require her to give him the policy as part of their divorce.
Hope this helps!
Our son is 41 and he owns the house we live in.He has a mortgage.our concern is if anything happens to him(God forbid)we would become homeless. As pensioners we could not afford to pay the mortgage
Hi Vena,
Your question is a quintessential reason why term life insurance policies exist. You depend upon your son for the roof over your head! Depending on your age, you may want to consider a 15 or 20 year term insurance policy on him. The insurance companies should allow you to purchase a policy at least in the amount of the mortgage, although you may want a little more or a little less if he were to die too soon.
In this case you would be the owner of the term insurance and you would be responsible for paying the premiums. If he is married and he is paying the premiums and lives in a community-property state, then things can go awry. My suggestion is for you to purchase a reasonable amount of term life insurance on your son and pay the premiums yourself. They should be very affordable. Make sure to look at many carriers to find the one that fits his build, smoking status, lifestyle and health. If you work with an insurance brokerage (like Quotacy) or an insurance advisor in your hometown, it is important to shop the market so that you receive the best price possible.
Hello. I would like to know if I would be able to get life insurance for my mother, naming myself as beneficiary. I moved out of state to take care of her while in her retirement years, and am currently enrolled in classes at the local university. Needless to say, I depend on her financially while she depends on me physically. She currently has life insurance for herself, but my sisters are named as her beneficiaries. Since I’m the only one doing anything for her, and am the only one trusted to take care of events after her passing, it would be extremely difficult to do everything and be left with nothing.
Hi J,
Thank you for your question. Your mother must be so grateful to have such a wonderful daughter.
The easiest route to take in this situation would be for your mother to just update her current life insurance policy and add you as a beneficiary. Beneficiaries can be changed at any time. If this option isn’t something you both are interested in, then, yes, you most likely can get life insurance for your mother naming yourself as beneficiary. However, insurance companies will not let individuals buy as much coverage on themselves as they want. Depending on how much her other life insurance policy is worth, she may not be able to own a second one. It depends on her age and income level.
If having a second policy is an option for her, then there are a couple ways this can go about.
First option is to purchase life insurance on your mother with you listed as both policyowner and beneficiary, and she as the insured. In this case, you would be paying the premiums each month and have control over the policy. Second option is for your mother to purchase the policy and be listed as policyowner and insured, and you the beneficiary.
Life insurance companies require insurable interest in order to let someone take life insurance out on someone else, but because you are mother and daughter and you depend on her financially, this shouldn’t be an issue. Keep in mind with either purchase option your mother will need to give consent via signatures and she will likely need to have a medical exam done.
Let us know if we can help further or answer any more questions, and good luck with your studies at the university.
Hello. I have a dear friend who has never had any children, and sees me as her daughter. She has asked for me to take a life insurance policy out on her; however, I don’t live in the same state as her and we are not related by blood. This woman is extremely dear to me and I would like to abide by her wishes, but is it possible?
Hello Fay,
It is always easier to take out a policy on a blood relative. That being said, there are friends and loved ones we meet along the way who become like family to us. Your comment says that you would like to abide by her wishes and take out a policy on her. That may actually be difficult depending on insurable interest. Are you financially dependent upon her in any way? It’s very possible the answer to this question is no. If it is yes, we could explore possibilities and may find a solution.
Otherwise, the easiest way to abide by her wishes though is for her to buy a policy on herself. She can name the beneficiary of the insurance policy as herself and name you the beneficiary of those assets in her will. Or she could change the beneficiary of the life insurance policy to you some day in the future as that is a right in the contract. It might be difficult establishing the need for the life insurance in the application process with you as the beneficiary though. This is why wills are such an important part of the estate planning process, and also the reason that beneficiary change forms are so easy to fill out.
Hi: Can I purchase a life insurance on my 38 year old son who is an alcoholic. He does not have a permanent job and obviously I will be the one to pay in event of death.
Hi Joy,
I am sorry to hear about your son. The short answer to your question is yes, probably. What kind of insurance and how to go about getting it will vary greatly depending on the progression of the disease. So here are a couple of different options.
One, if he drinks every day and has a difficult time holding down a job, but his liver is still healthy, it may be possible to get him an inexpensive term insurance plan. If you purchase the insurance then you would be the owner of the contract. If you are going to be the owner, then it will help to have a cover letter which is a written explanation about why the coverage is necessary. In this cover letter you will need explain why it is important for you to have a policy on your son and how his death will impact you financially. This letter does not need to be long story.
Two, if his health is seriously declining due to his drinking, you may need to look into a final expense plan. These are permanent plans of insurance and can be pricey, but the smaller insurance proceeds will cover the cost of a funeral. If he is unhealthy and needs something close to guaranteed underwriting (meaning almost everyone is insurable), then it will most likely have a graded death benefit. A graded death benefit policy has quite high premiums and for the first couple of years the death benefit is equal to the premiums paid (or sometime double the premiums paid).
If you want more specific advice on how to get a policy on your son, please feel free to contact us directly.
Hello, my partner’s ex wants to take out a life insurance policy on him since they have 2 children together. How will that affect my partner (that I live with) once he decides to buy a life insurance policy for himself–or if I decided to take one out on him? Thanks!
Hi Alex,
Great question!
Life insurance is a common solution when two individuals separate but still have the shared responsibilities of child rearing and the insurance companies see the protection as a viable need.
There are two ways to go about this. One is for your partner’s ex to be the owner and the beneficiary of the contract which means that they will be accountable for paying the premiums. They also will have the ability to keep that insurance in force as long as they wish.
The other option is for your partner to buy the insurance on himself and make his ex the beneficiary of the contract. This option has a big positive (he is in control of the contract), and a negative, the ex may or may not believe they are still the beneficiary or the contract is even in force. The control option can come with ex headaches!
So, how will this scenario affect you being the beneficiary or owner of a contract on your partner? This most likely will not be an issue. It all depends on the total amount of insurance in force on your partner.
The insurance companies will not allow you to buy as much life insurance as you want. This surprises people sometimes. There is a limit to the amount any one individual can buy and that is determined by age and income. There are other factors involved with life insurance for business purposes, but age and income are the main determining factors for personal coverage which is what we are discussing here.
The younger a person is, the more income earning potential is lost if they were to die. To give you a general sense (all insurance companies have slightly different takes on this), if you are between the ages of 20 and 40, you can get 30-35 times gross income, ages 41-50 is 20-30 times income, ages 51-55 is 20 times income, 56-65 is 15 times income, and 66-70 is 5-10 ten times income.
Depending on how much insurance the ex wants to have in the event of your partners death, that amount would be subtracted from the total insurance available on your partner. So if he is making $50k a year and is 35 years old, his maximum is going to be around $1.5M. If the ex wants half a million, then the most he would be able to buy in the future is $1M.
Can I buy life insurance on my 18 year old daughter? She does not live at home. She is single and irresponsible. Ultimately her mother and I would be in charge of any final expenses. If we can purchase a policy what will happen to ownership if she gets married? If we buy a 10 or 20 year term will we be the owner of the policy until it expires, would it be renewable?
Jimmy,
You most likely are able to purchase life insurance on your 18 year old daughter. The insurance companies will require that you also have life insurance on yourselves before agreeing to make you an owner of a policy on your daughter. One of the reasons they do this is to show that you are insurance buyers. When mom and dad do not own life insurance, it can be a bear to convince insurance companies to agree to the child’s life protection with the parents as owners.
You mention that she is single and irresponsible. You are not alone in having an 18 year old child who is experiencing the world without a thought of consequences. Hopefully she grows up soon so that your worries lessen.
Many companies will require her to have an exam, although you may want to consider Pacific Life or SBLI as most of the time they don’t require one for a $100k term life policy. If you are looking for a smaller contract, then a whole life plan might make more sense. Almost every insurance company today has a minimum of $100k for term insurance contracts. A small whole life will be similar in costs to a larger term life plan. One place to check on that is http://www.gerberlife.com They have small whole life plans for final expense for individuals aged 18-50.
If you decide upon the term insurance route, your daughter will have to sign paperwork (or at least sign it digitally) and she will know that you have a policy on her. Also, it will help to have some insurable interest in place. This means that you will be ultimately responsible for her final expenses. If you have co-signed a student loan it will make the financial underwriting much easier.
You have the right to transfer ownership of the plan to your daughter at any time. So if she were to get married you could transfer her the policy so that she something in place for her new family. She would take over the premiums at that point, although you could always gift her the ongoing premiums if you wanted. You also could keep the contract for yourselves in case you felt that if something were to happen to her you would be able to financially help out any children she might have.
Most term insurance plans are renewable, but that comes with a caveat. The premium to renew is always more expensive than taking out a new plan. You could also convert the term insurance to a permanent product if there were major health concerns when the time comes to renew the term insurance. Most people who buy term insurance go through underwriting again near the expiry of the term contract or convert. Very few people pay the renewal premiums once they see the price hike. Term insurance is built to be cheap for a specified number of years and then they hit what I call the brick wall. The premium is so much more that it feels like running into one!
Hopefully your questions have been answered. If not, please let me know what more I can do to help you.
Question – My guy and I live together and share the household expenses. He never obtained a separation or divorce. His wife lives in another town. I am divorced. Can we obtain life insurance on each other?
Hi Liz! The simple answer is yes. Let’s talk through the purpose of life insurance and the right way to position the life insurance policies.
First, the purpose of life insurance is to protect insurable interest. Insurable interest means that the beneficiary of the policy derives an ongoing benefit, typically financial, from the insured, and that a death of the insured would cause the person to suffer a financial or other form of loss. In the scenario for you and your guy, you both depend upon each other to pay household expenses.
Even though you aren’t married to each other, you both have financial responsibilities to one another to continue your standard of living. Life insurance is meant to lessen or eliminate the financial suffering a family faces when death occurs. This allows the family to grieve the emotional and spiritual loss without financial stress. And from what you wrote, you are family.
The best way to structure the policies is for each of you to buy a life insurance policy on yourself. This means that you are the owner and the insured on the contract. The owner is the person who pays the premiums and has the right to make changes on the policy, including the ability to choose the beneficiary. Then you name your partner the beneficiary of the life insurance policy.
You will buy (be the owner) a life insurance policy on yourself (as the insured) and you will name your guy as the beneficiary. Then he does the same thing for you. If something tragic happens to either one of you, the life insurance policy will pay the proceeds out to the survivor.
Hello, I am inquiring if I could take out a policy on my childs father? He’s currently on drugs and hasn’t been a factor in his childs life. Unfortunately I am not able to locate him & he doesn’t have a physical address but I have his pertinent information such as ssn/birthdate/etc. I do not want to be burdened with the financial responsibility alone. Please help. Thank you.
Hi KayC,
Thank you for your question.
I’m sorry to hear of the troubles you are going through. Unfortunately, I don’t have good news. You are not able to take a life insurance policy out on someone without their consent, and because you are not able to locate your daughter’s father you are unlikely to obtain this consent. I think I should also add because he uses illegal drugs, unless it’s just marijuana, it is unlikely a life insurance company would approve him anyway. I wish you and your daughter the best.
Hi, my husband go a life insurance without my concern, I was very upset about it. now we are separated and I don’t want him having a life insurance on me what can I do?
Jessica,
I am sorry you are going through these troubles. There isn’t quite enough information here for me to give you a definitive answer, but I will do my best to read into what you wrote. You mentioned that your husband purchased a life insurance policy on you without your consent, and then you found out about it and were upset. Every individual life insurance policy that I am aware of requires the adult insured to give their signature/consent acknowledging the policy on their life. And most companies require an exam. I am going to assume you didn’t have a medical exam and so must assume he purchased a simplified issue policy on you. If you know which insurance company issued the policy, you can call them and ask if they have your consent on file. If your husband forged your signature or pretended to be you online, the policy could be fraudulent and you could ask them to rescind it. If you did sign or give consent, then that route would be unavailable to you.
One thing to note about life insurance policies is that they are treated as an asset. Whoever is the owner, which typically is the person paying the premiums, has control over the asset. So as long as he didn’t forge your signature or pretend to be you, he owns the policy and can do whatever he wishes with it. That includes continuing to pay premiums and keeping the policy for as long as it lasts. If you move into divorce proceedings, you can always make it a contingency that he give you the policy in the divorce decree. This would be a simple ownership change form that you both would sign and the policy would become yours.
Hi. Jessica. I have problem like you. But I don’t khow what insurance company. Do you khow how can I find insurance company name? Please share about it if you khow it. We are separated too. I don’t want he is keeping it. It’s really important for me now.
Hi. I am wondering about getting insurance in case my brother passes. He has had long-term health issues, which seem to be getting worse. He is currently living in my parents home (they have passed) and the house is in a trust. If he were to die it would be up to me and his teenage son to pay the bills for the funeral. there are no funds in the trust to cover this. Can I get insurance on him just to pay for the burial costs?
Lynn,
You are dealing with a lot going on in your life and I hope that one of the three scenarios I lay out can relieve some of your stress. All of them cost money. When someone is in very poor health and is looking for a burial policy there are typically three options to help pay for funeral costs.
The first option has nothing to do with life insurance, and that is just going ahead and creating a specified saving account and plan to put away some money every month. This cuts into your disposable income, but on the positive (and negative) side, you still have access to those funds in case an emergency happens in your own household.
Option number two is to go ahead and buy a guaranteed issue life insurance plan. These policies are fairly easy to get, but the premiums tend to be very high. Also, with guaranteed issue life insurance, you need to know that if the insured dies within the first 2 years of the contract, the policy only refunds the premiums paid. These policies are the last resort for someone who really needs life insurance and the premiums reflect that.
Option three is to create a relationship with a funeral home to set up a Preneed Funeral Insurance policy. These policies have an installment plan for up to 10 years to prefund the funeral costs for your brother. I don’t know a lot about them, but have seen clients put these in place for their parents and it softened the financial blow of a funeral.
I am making a big assumption that your brother is in very poor health and that he would be declined for all normal channels of life insurance coverage. It is always possible that he could qualify for a less expensive option, but without more info on his health it is impossible to know. I hope this helps you to make some decisions. Please reach out if you have further questions.
Hi. I’m wondering if I can purchase life insurance for a daughter that is not a minor, (22 yrs old), with the thought that if she were to die it would be an expense to me as far as the burial is concerned. I just recently went through this scenario with the passing of my wife and it ended up costing me approximately 15,000.00 dollars out of pocket which I consider to be an insurable interest. I am in no way looking to profit from the death of a loved one however it is an expense that I currently don’t have the funds for. Thank you in advance for your reply.
Hi Bob,
I am so sorry that your wife passed away. My deepest sympathy goes out to you and your daughter.
In response to your question about purchasing life insurance on your daughter, there are a couple of ways you could go about doing this. One way would be to purchase a small whole life policy on her as there are a few companies that will issue a policy for $15k, although most require a higher face amount. This would be a permanent insurance contract that you could give her someday in the future and would have some cash value inside of it. Whomever you choose to help you get the coverage put in place would need to write a cover letter explaining why you would like to buy the insurance. This shouldn’t be a problem in terms of insurable interest at all.
Your daughter is still young and hopefully has many years in front of her, possibly including a great profession, marriage and children. A 20 year term insurance policy for $100k (this is the minimum for most insurance companies) would cost about the same or less than the whole life coverage. In 20 years she will probably have a family for herself and some insurance would be valuable to her new family as well. The easiest way to do this would be for your daughter to be the insured, the owner and the beneficiary of the insurance. And you can pay the premium for her.
When she gets a little older she could take on the premiums for herself, or again, you could continue to pay for it as long as you like. If tragedy struck her, her estate would receive the proceeds and they would flow up to you unless she was married. Since you said that you are not interested in profiting from the insurance, I would recommend that if that happened, you give her a beautiful funeral and set up a scholarship fund in her name.
You also could go about trying to be the owner and beneficiary of her term policy as well, although this comes with some caveats. The insurance company will want to know how much coverage is in force on yourself and will want the reasoning behind you owning the insurance. If you don’t own any life insurance on yourself, then it will be very difficult to go down this route. If you do own coverage a good cover letter and a broker with access to many companies should be able to make that happen as well. It’s just a more difficult way of going about the insurance purchase.
So my recommendation is for you to help her buy some inexpensive term insurance with her as the owner and you pay the premiums on her behalf. Contact us directly if you would like to talk through this some more. We are happy to help.
Thanks so much for the information Natasha, and also for the kind words. I will most likely take your advice and purchase term insurance and making her the owner. I’ll be sure to contact you in the future with any questions I have going forward. Thank you again.
Can we purchase life insurance for my brother who can’t afford insurance but needs it to provide for his son who is mentally handicapped.
Hi Lavetra,
Thank you for your question. The simple answer is yes. Whoever pays the premium is considered the owner of the insurance policy. If you own a policy on your brother (who is the insured) and you are the beneficiary of the death proceeds, then this scenario works well. Not all insurance companies will write this contract (but an experienced agent, or Quotacy, can find the willing insurers) and the ones that do will want to see an insurable interest on your part. Insurable interest means that you will be the guardian of his handicapped son if something were to happen to him.
Another option would be to set up a trust at your brother’s death (a testamentary trust) that would have the money in it for the benefit of his son. If you choose this option your brother will buy the insurance and you will go ahead and gift him the premiums for the policy since he can’t currently pay them. Does this answer your question, or is there more detail you would like to know? Please don’t hesitate to contact us directly if you need more information.
Could I purchase a policy on my domestic partner who takes care of all living expenses for me and my child? We are not related, however, their untimely death would certainly adversely affect my finances. Please advise.
Hi Mia,
Thank you for your question. We would need a little more information to make a fully educated response, but the simple answer is yes, there are ways to protect your family with life insurance. One way would be to write up a cover letter explaining the situation so that the insurance carrier can see the reasoning, also known as the insurable interest, behind you wanting to own coverage on your domestic partner. If that option isn’t feasible, your partner could buy a life insurance policy on him/herself and then make you the beneficiary of the contract.