Chicago Insurance Forum

Changing the beneficiary on a life insurance policy is generally a simple matter. Contact your insurance company and follow instructions for executing a change of beneficiary. Beneficiary change requests must be in writing, usually on a form that your insurer will provide. Some life insurance companies actually make a physical change to your insurance policy to reflect the new beneficiary, but this is unusual.

Sometimes changing the beneficiary on your life insurance policy can be more difficult. If you have designated an irrevocable beneficiary, you are not allowed to make changes to this designation without first getting the current beneficiary's consent. If you live in a community property state, your spouse must give his or her consent before you can name anyone else as your beneficiary.

If you are changing your beneficiary as a result of divorce, make sure you comply with the terms of your divorce decree. Your settlement agreement may require you to maintain life insurance coverage with your ex-spouse as beneficiary. In this case, you cannot legally change the beneficiary. If you designated your spouse as beneficiary while you were married, divorce does not change this. If you do not want your ex-spouse to receive the benefits of your life insurance policy, you will need to execute a change of beneficiary.