What you need to consider when choosing a Life Insurance beneficiary

When taking out a life insurance policy, it’s important to consider who your life insurance beneficiary is and the role they play.

What is a life insurance beneficiary?

A life insurance beneficiary is a person who will receive your life insurance payment should you pass away. When choosing yours, it’s essential to think about who you would want to take care of financially should something happen to you. What happens if you don’t have a beneficiary? If you hold the policy in your name, your benefit will go to your estate and be managed as part of your will. If you have outstanding debts when you pass away, your benefit may be used to pay them before it is distributed to the people named in your will – this means your loved ones could miss out on the payment.

Who can be a beneficiary?

Naming a beneficiary ensures your benefit is not paid to your estate and goes directly to the person you nominate. It’s important to consider that if your beneficiary has any debts, the proceeds might be used to pay them off. As well as this, keep in mind that if you nominate a minor such as your children, they will only receive the total amount once they turn 18.

Who’s eligible to be a life insurance beneficiary?

You can nominate anyone 18 years or above as your life insurance beneficiary. This can be:

• A spouse, which includes a person (whether of the same or different sex) with whom you’re in a relationship with
• Your child, including adopted child or step-child
• Ex-nuptial child or your spouse’s child who is financially dependent on you
• A person with whom you have an inter-dependency relationship; either living together, have a close personal relationship or if one or each of you provides the other with financial or domestic support

What’s the difference between a binding and nonbinding beneficiary?

Suppose you have life insurance within your super. In that case, you’ll be asked to nominate a beneficiary – a family member or loved one who will receive the life insurance money if you pass away. You have the choice to make a binding or a non-binding nomination. A binding nomination is a legally binding statement that your insurer will use to know who your money should go to if you pass away. A non-binding nomination is not legally binding. Your insurer will consider your non-binding nomination when making the life insurance payment on your behalf, in addition to other aspects of the law. To ensure your family is looked after when you’re not around, it’s essential to keep your beneficiary details up to date within your super account.

How to keep your beneficiary up to date

You should evaluate your beneficiary and policy at any major life event – for example, purchasing a home, having children, getting married, getting divorced or the death of a loved one. Having life insurance beneficiaries up to date ensures your loved ones are cared for financially if something were to happen to you. If you have any questions concerning beneficiaries, please reach out, and we can assist you.

General Advice Warning

Any advice or information in this publication is of a general nature only and has not taken into account your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Because of that, before acting on the advice, you should consider its appropriateness to you, having regard to your personal objectives, financial situation and needs.

Before making a decision to acquire a financial product, you should obtain and read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) relating to that product, it is important for you to consider these matters and to seek appropriate advice. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. The information in this document reflects our understanding of existing legislation, proposed legislation, rulings etc as at the date of issue. In some cases, the information has been provided to us by third parties. While it is believed the information is accurate and reliable, this is not guaranteed in any way. Opinions constitute our judgement at the time of issue and are subject to change. Neither we nor our employees give any warranty of accuracy, nor accept any responsibility for errors or omissions in this document.

Identity McIntyre Pty Limited and Specialist Advice Pty Limited are Authorised Representative(s) of IMFG Pty Limited Limited ABN 18646084666, AFSL number 527657, an Australian Financial Services Licensee, Registered office at Level 8, 171 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000.