Does Life Insurance Go To Estate?

  1. 1805 POINTS
    Samuel Smith
    Enrolled Agent-licensed to practice before the IRS, Samuel N Smith, EA, South Carolina
    Life Insurance passes by contract law. So if I have a $500,000 policy upon my death, assuming my wife is my beneficiary, the funeral home provides a "death certificate" to my wife who then files a claim with my insurance company and the proceeds is not tied up in my estate.
    Answered on November 25, 2013
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  2. 63333 POINTS
    Contact Me
    Peggy Mace
    Most of the U.S.
    If you choose the beneficiary of your life insurance policy to be your estate, or if none of your beneficiaries are alive when you pass, your life insurance proceeds will go to your estate. Other than those circumstances, your policy proceeds go to the person or other entity that you chose to be your beneficiary, bypassing your estate. This allows the benefit to not be tied up in probate and avoids unnecessary fees. However, the value of your life insurance is considered part of your estate value. If the total value of your estate is over the federal or state exempted amount, and if your spouse has passed, estate taxes on the excess may apply.
    Answered on November 25, 2013
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  3. 4249 POINTS
    Gary Lane
    President, Lane Independent Agency, Southern California
    One of the great benefits of Life Insurance, is that you get to name the beneficiary and they get your proceeds when you die, totally avoiding Probate, and the cost of Probate, and the eternal delays of Probate. Save your family that Hell. Get Life Insurance.
    Answered on November 25, 2013
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