Whom should we leave our life insurance to?

The welfare of minor children must always be a primary concern of life insurance planning. You need to arrange for the proceeds of the policy to be managed and supervised by a competent adult. If you don't, the court will appoint a guardian for your children. This can lead to additional cost and emotional strain that will burden everyone.

Many people will avoid this problem by appointing a trusted adult as the beneficiary. This person is charged with providing for the children. The proper use of a living trust, your will, and an adult custodian under your state's Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) can all ensure that the money you leave to your children will be handled properly. As always, you need to speak with an estate planning attorney about this.

I would recommend speaking to a qualified life insurance agent before securing a insurance policy & to make sure it is set up correctly. To check out the various life insurance types and options click on http://www.insureme.com/landing.aspx?Refby=614500&... It’s a web site that will give you the information required to make a decision on which policy is right for you. It also gives you the option to call local agents to get any of your questions answered. Getting the life policy set up correctly will take a great burden off of your loved ones in the future.

Take care,

Ron @ InsureMe

Two options: As some have suggested, if you don't think your children need it, cancel or decrease your policy.

But if you do leave a benefit to your children make sure you discuss it with them if the amounts aren't going to be equal. It shouldn't be a surprise should you [god forbit] pass on that you have excluded a child from a benefit. I've seen stuff like this tear families apart. If you decide to give a child more or less explain to them why first.

I'm not so sure that you should just exclude them. Maybe leave them a lesser amount than the minor ones. They can't collect until theyre 18 anyways if anything should happen to you.

Look to the reasons for having life insurance. It is to provide for those who remain after we are gone assuming that they need to be provided for.

Normally, it would be to provide for the spouce of the bread winner and to support minor children. If neither requires providing for, why waste the money on life insurace???

I think you should give it to all of them. What if something happened to you today. They would need it to help them out. You can have it go into a savings account if they are not 18 and when they are 18 they can draw so much out. You can have it fixed to here the only get a little bit at a time. That way they will not blow it all.

I hold a license in Life Insurance. It would be best to leave it to your spouse. In some states it is the law that your spouse be beneficiary. Another choice would be to the executor of your estate. This way he or she would have access to funds if needed in closing out your estate. Good Luck and I hope you live to 100. Your life insurance will mature and you will get the money yourself!!

What you should be asking is "why do I have this much life insurance?" As your children mature and get out on their own, your need for life insurance decreases. If you own term insurance, decrease the amount of coverage. If you own whole life, universal life or variable life, talk to your agent. You may be able to reduce or eliminate all of your premium payments.

all for one, one for all........ they are all your children, no matter their age.. so in the event of your death the older children can have their share and the minor children's share can then be held in trust till they reach an age where they can be responsible for any money that they receive.... all children in a family unit should be treated the same when it comes to matters of inheritance

You don't say what state your parents live in. But let's assume it's California (where I'm licensed.) A life insurance policy can only be purchased on someone in good health. So assuming your parents are both age 65, in good health (never smoked, no high blood pressure, no weight issues, no history of major disease, etc) a $1 mil 20 year term policy on your mother will be plus or minus $7,000 a year. Because men don't live as long as women, your dad's premium would be plus or minus $10,000. The "catch" is their health issues. Can they pass a physical and get the best rates? The premiums will go up from there. Funerals do not have to be elaborate staged productions. Cremation and a simple service can be fairly affordable. When the time comes don't get sucked in to a funeral director's sale's pitch. Re the poster who said you can only collect from both policies if your parents died at the same time. That's only true if you expect to get both death benefits at the same time or you buy one of those policies that only pays out after the second person has died. If you have two separate policies the death benefit is paid separately. Re the poster who said that the premium would be $20k - $40k at the least must be assuming that your parents have health issues that make them borderline uninsurable. Frankly, If I was in your family's position I'd figure out what simple cremation services cost in your area and start parking some money in a savings account. Your parents should have a lot of good years left, so you should have plenty of time to fund the account.

I would give some to everyone....they will just fight over nickles if you give them a chance....or you can solve all the fighting and just leave it to me!!!!!