How to Change Beneficiaries

Posted in Life Insurance

March 17th, 2009

Having life insurance is very important, especially if you are a parent with dependent children. If you are, you have probably named them as beneficiaries. However, sometimes we want to change the beneficiaries of our life insurance programs. Changing beneficiaries is, generally, an easy thing to do.

If you want to change beneficiaries for your life insurance policy, you need to contact your life insurance provider and fill out the necessary paperwork to make the change. However, there are some restrictions to changing beneficiaries under certain scenarios. For example, if you are married and you live in a community property state then you need to get your spouse’s permission to change beneficiaries of your life insurance policy.

Another scenario under which changing beneficiaries is more complicated is if you have named previous beneficiaries – the beneficiaries you wish to change or drop – as irrevocable beneficiaries. If you have named someone as an irrevocable beneficiary, you need to get their permission first before you make any changes to their status as your beneficiary.

You may have named your spouse as the beneficiary to your life insurance policy. This could be a problem if you get a divorce – more likely than not you will want to drop your ex-husband or ex-wife as a beneficiary to your life insurance policy. Things can get pretty complicated here, so it’s important to follow the letter of the law, and the advice of your lawyer.

To learn more about changing beneficiaries to your life insurance policy, be sure to speak to a representative of your life insurance provider, or a life insurance agent. He or she can walk you through the process of changing beneficiaries. One thing’s for sure, however – you need to notify your life insurance provider and fill out all proper paperwork. Simply changing the terms of your will is insufficient to be legally binding.