Yes, you can take out a life insurance policy on your ex-spouse if there is an insurable interest such as maintenance (alimony) and/or child support and your ex agrees to sign the application and go through underwriting.

Can an ex-spouse be a life insurance beneficiary?

“In the case of someone who divorced and remarried, the policy may name the first spouse as beneficiary. If the policyholder never changed the policy to reflect the divorce and remarriage, the ex-spouse could end up with the benefit.

Can your ex wife be a beneficiary?

In addition to settlement agreements, when it comes to certain legal and financial documents, such as wills and insurance policies, an ex-spouse or his or her family may remain beneficiaries despite a divorce having been finalized.

Do you have to have life insurance on your ex spouse?

In fact, many divorce decrees specify that the ex-spouses must have life insurance on themselves, with the ex-spouse named as the beneficiary. Alternatively, each ex-spouse could own a policy on the other ex-spouse.

Can a former spouse be a beneficiary on a life insurance policy?

To avoid situations where ex-spouses incidentally benefit from policies of their deceased former spouses, many states have enacted laws that automatically revoke the ex-spouse as the beneficiary on the life insurance policy following divorce. These laws were designed to prevent conflict among families and limit litigation over disputed policies.

Who is entitled to life insurance after divorce?

Questions about ex-spouses’ rights to the life insurance policy of their deceased former spouses come up very frequently in our practice. This area of law can be quite confusing to many people because there is no universal rule on who receives life insurance after divorce.

What happens if I cancel my life insurance policy?

If you have a whole of life insurance policy, there will be typically a surrender value you can obtain when cancelling it. The amount you receive will be equivalent to the value of the fund you have amassed, but minus fees and penalties. You won’t recoup all of the premiums you paid but you can claw back some money.