Illustrations

RESOURCES - Life - universal life
2nd to Die - Survivorship

A type of life insurance on two people (usually married) that provides benefits to the heirs only after the last surviving spouse dies. This differs from regular life insurance because the surviving partner doesn't receive any benefits after their spouse dies. This type of insurance can be an effective estate planning tool.

• For individuals who expect that large estate taxes can be assessed on the death of the second spouse, survivorship life insurance can be a smart estate planning tool. By providing a death benefit upon the death of the surviving insured, survivorship policies can be used to pay estate taxes and other expenses at the death of the second spouse.
• Survivorship insurance may be a good strategy in cases where one member of a couple is in less than good health, making other types of insurance extremely expensive for that individual. Since two lives are insured in this type of policy, premiums for survivorship life policies are relatively low compared to individual policies on each spouse’s life because the insurance cost is not based solely on the individual in less than perfect health. Therefore, if the other spouse is in reasonably good health, the couple can usually obtain survivorship life insurance.