Life Insurance Policy Beneficiary

5 Beneficiary Mistakes People Can Make On Their Life Insurance Policy and Retirement Plans. A beneficiary is an individual, institution, trustee, or estate which receives, or may become eligible to receive, benefits under a will, insurance policy, retirement plan, trust, annuity, or other contract.. To claim life insurance benefits, the beneficiary should contact the insurance company's local agent or check the company's website. Some companies ask beneficiaries to start by sending in a form that merely reports the death; they then send the beneficiary a packet of forms and instructions explaining how to proceed.. Life insurance is typically pretty straightforward: You pay for a policy, and if you die while that policy is still in force, the death benefit goes to your named beneficiary. Many people name their spouse as their beneficiary, but you can name other people too, whether they’re a sibling, business partner, friend or adult child.. A beneficiary is a person who will receive the payout from a life insurance policy if you were to die. The proceeds from the payout can be used to help pay for financial needs – those that come with death, such as funeral arrangements and other end-of-life expenses, along with day-to-day bills like the mortgage and childcare..

Life insurance is no exception. This means when a beneficiary receives life insurance proceeds after a period of interest accumulation rather than immediately upon the policyholder's death, he must pay taxes, not on the entire benefit, but on the interest. For example, if the death benefit is $500,000,....

As the beneficiary of the insurance policy, you may be required to provide a copy of the insurance policy along with the claims form. You must also submit a certified copy of the death certificate, either through the county or municipality, or through the hospital or nursing home in which the insured died.. A life insurance policy has one or more designated beneficiaries if the decedent completed a beneficiary designation form for the policy before their death.  If at least one of the designated beneficiaries survives the decedent, the life insurance proceeds pass directly to the beneficiary outside of probate..