Does my will control my life insurance beneficiary?

Question

At the moment, I am updating the beneficiary section of a life insurance policy after changes in my family. At the moment, I want to avoid a claim being paid to someone I no longer intend or creating unnecessary probate. For context, the coverage could affect roughly $185,000 or more for my family, so I am paying close attention to exclusions, beneficiary rules, and what could cause the benefit to be reduced.

Soradin · Accepted Answer

The policy designation generally controls instead of a conflicting instruction in the will. For this insurance planning decision, a life insurance beneficiary is the person or organization designated to receive the death benefit. For a coverage review, the policy form generally controls, so names, percentages, relationships, and contact information should be kept current. The estate plan and the insurer's beneficiary forms need to be reviewed together, because the policy generally pays according to the designation on file.

Does my will control my life insurance beneficiary?

Soradin

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