One line on the policy beats your will
The beneficiary field causes more trouble than the application ever does. What to check today.
Proceeds go to the beneficiary named on the policy — not to whoever your will names. Whatever the will says, whatever the divorce decree says, the insurer follows that line on the contract. Designations left unchanged after a marriage, divorce, or birth are the single most common problem I see.
Fill in the contingent, not just the primary
If the primary dies first, or in the same accident, and no contingent is named, the money falls into the estate. That means probate, months of delay, and exposure to creditors — losing the one thing a death benefit is supposed to do well, which is pay quickly.
Don’t name a minor child directly
A minor cannot receive proceeds. The money sits until a court appoints a guardian, and then it is handed over in full on their eighteenth birthday. Naming a trust, or appointing a custodian, is the standard fix.
Log into the insurer’s portal, open the beneficiary screen, and verify spelling, dates of birth, and percentages — they must total 100%. Group coverage through your employer carries its own separate designation; check that one too.
Revisit it whenever this happens
- Marriage, divorce, remarriage
- A birth or an adoption
- The death of a named beneficiary
- A job change — group coverage does not follow you