Speak with an experienced advisor! Can I get life insurance on my ex-husband? This is the typical question wives ask us during divorce. They are worried about what would happen to them and their children if their ex-husband died without any life insurance.
Can I get life insurance on my ex-husband? The quick answer is YES. It is possible to get life insurance on your ex-husband, especially if you have children together. If your ex-husband were to pass away, it could create a financial burden for you and your children.
Setting up a life insurance policy on your ex-husband is a great option to protect the income due to you as part of your divorce decree’s provision regarding child support and alimony. Make sure that the insurance policy is adequate to replace the amount that you would be receiving for alimony and child support.
WHY DO I NEED TO BUY LIFE INSURANCE ON MY EX-HUSBAND?
Just as you may have a medical insurance policy to protect your loved ones financially if you get sick or injured, you need to protect income as well. Because if your ex-husband dies, a life insurance policy can cover his financial obligations required under the divorce agreement.
Child support helps cover childcare costs and other expenses, and these payments end at death.
Buying life insurance after divorce is a smart way to ensure you and your children remain financially secure no matter what.
You might have started saving for your children’s future college education during your marriage. Divorce decrees commonly dictate that your ex-husband continue to share this responsibility after divorce. What happens when he dies? A policy naming you as a beneficiary can ensure that these costs are covered.
You also need life insurance on your ex-husband if you’re still living with your children. If your marital home is jointly owned and secured with a mortgage, get life insurance. This way if he dies you can pay off the mortgage and keep the house.
You need to take life insurance on your ex-husband if you have any debt like student loan debt, credit card debt or mortgage debt that you share together. Having a life insurance policy will ensure you can pay for all these when he passed away.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO GET LIFE INSURANCE ON MY EX-HUSBAND?
INSURABLE INTEREST
In order to have a life insurance policy on your ex-husband, there must be an insurable interest.
There is insurable interest if you will be adversely affected by the lack of financial contribution when your ex-husband passes away.
This can happen:
- If you are financially dependent on him and he is paying child support that gives you an insurable interest.
- If your ex-husband is still paying alimony, you have an insurable interest in him.
- If you and your ex-husband have debts like credit card debt or mortgage, you have an insurable interest in him.
- If you have a jointly owned business, you have an insurable interest.
You must show an insurable interest because an insurance company will not allow you to take a policy to make a profit when someone with no financial ties to you dies.
DIVORCE DECREE
A divorce decree is the court’s judgment and final ruling that makes the marriage termination official. A divorce decree usually contains spousal support or alimony, child custody and support, the division of property and various financial obligations of each party.
The most common reason for acquiring life insurance on an ex-husband is doing so pursuant to a divorce decree. Divorce does not always translate into the end of joint marital obligations. For this reason, both parties in a divorce are often required to maintain life insurance.
A divorce decree will often stipulate the need for life insurance on ex-husband is if there are children on marriage. Children create financial liabilities by both parties.
In most divorce situations the wife is the custodial parent while the husband will pay child support and alimony. If the ex-husband dies the critical income stream for the children would be lost. The purpose of a life insurance policy is to ensure that there are sufficient assets to substitute for lost child support.
The divorce decree will explain the need for life insurance policies, the face amount of the death benefit, how many years the policy needs to be in force, as well as who will be required to pay for the premiums.
CONSENT
You cannot apply for a life insurance policy on your ex-husband without his consent. That would be illegal.
He must agree to the coverage. Your ex-husband cannot be insured without his knowledge because he needs to sign the application form and may need to take a medical exam to get coverage.
The application will request your ex-husband’s personal information and health history. Since he is the only one who can adequately provide that information, and sign the application, it will be impossible to keep the policy a secret.
The insurance company may need additional information during the application process from your ex-husband, and they will contact him directly. They may also need medical information from his doctors that will require written authorization from him.
LIFE INSURANCE ON DIVORCED EX-HUSBAND
Just because your marriage is over doesn’t mean your husband’s obligation to your children ends. The most important reason why life insurance is required on divorce is to cover financial responsibilities should your ex-husband die prematurely.
If you’re given custody of your children, make sure that the life of your husband is insured and you are the beneficiary. You don’t want to be left in a position where child support payments or alimony ends due to the sudden death of your ex-husband.
Make sure that the amount of insurance required is related to the extent of his obligation. The life insurance must be carried out for a specific period to make sure that his commitment is met.
How long the life insurance policy must be maintained depends on the purpose of life insurance. If it was intended to safeguard child support, the policy could be terminated when your children reach the legal age for becoming an adult (18 years old in the United States).
If the life insurance is needed to assure alimony, the policy should continue as long as your alimony payments are required. Although, there is no clear-cut answer for how long the alimony last. Each state has different rules regarding alimony, and your situation can be different.
WHICH TYPE OF LIFE INSURANCE IS BEST FOR MY EX-HUSBAND?
It is essential to get the right kind of insurance policy when you’re taking out a policy on your ex-husband.
Term life insurance policies provide coverage for a fixed period or specified term typically 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. If you are buying a policy to ensure those child support payments are made if your ex-husband dies, term life insurance may be your best option.
Term life insurance provides a lot of coverage for low premium payment. It is more affordable since it is only in force for a specific length of time. Choose a term policy that corresponds with the duration of your child support payments.
For example, if your children are 11 and 13 years old and your child support agreement states that your ex-husband needs to pay support until your youngest child is 21, you could get a 10-year term policy.
Permanent or whole life insurance is intended to provide coverage for the rest of your life. This policy is more costly than term life insurance because it builds cash value. You can withdraw the cash value, or you can borrow against it if you have an emergency.
There are two types of permanent life insurance – whole life and universal life. Whole life insurance is more expensive, but it accrues more cash value. Universal life is also permanent life insurance; it is less costly than whole life. It builds cash value but more slowly than whole life.
Permanent life insurance has a cash value that is why the death benefit will be higher than the face amount of the policy. For example, you buy $100,000 permanent life insurance policy on your ex-husband. You pay the premiums for 20 years. The policy accrued $10,000 in cash value. When your ex-husband dies, you will get $100,000 death benefit plus the $10,000 cash value.
It is essential to determine what type of life insurance you should buy for your ex-husband.
If you are buying life insurance to ensure that your children are provided for, term life insurance is probably your best choice because you will only need the coverage as long as your children are still dependent on your ex-husband for support. Once they are independent, you won’t need the coverage, and you can stop paying for the policy.
If you are buying life insurance to make sure that your alimony continues even when your ex-husband dies, a permanent life insurance policy will be your better choice.
HOW TO GET LIFE INSURANCE ON MY EX-HUSBAND?
If your ex-husband has been required to buy a life insurance policy as part of the divorce settlement, he must maintain that policy according to the terms of the divorce decree.
Let’s say your ex-husband is okay with you getting life insurance on him, but he’s not going to make it easy. There are some things you can do to persuade him to get a life insurance policy:
- Eliminate the need to take the medical exam
- Simplify the process by allowing him to complete the application over the phone.
- Getting rid of the lengthy approval process may persuade him to get insured immediately.
Finding a way to take the hassle out of buying life insurance for your ex-husband will help ensure his cooperation. The best way to do is to simplify the application process by getting a simplified issue, no exam life insurance policy.
No exam life insurance is the fastest way to get your ex-husband covered immediately. There are a few insurance carriers that will offer term life insurance coverage up to $500,000 that would be in force within 24 hours after a brief phone interview.
There are four parties involved in purchasing a life insurance policy: the insured, the owner, the payor and the beneficiary.
The Insured
The insured is the person covered by the life insurance policy, whose death there will be a payout. In this instance, it will be your ex-husband.
The Owner
The policy owner is the person who owns the life insurance policy and has the right to make changes to the policy. She can cancel it or change the beneficiary. The wife must make sure that she is the policy owner so she can have the final say on how the policy works.
The Payor
The payor is the person responsible for making the payments. If the wife is the payor, she must be the owner as well.
The Beneficiary
The beneficiary is the person that will receive the life insurance payout.
There are two types of beneficiaries:
Primary – the first person who will receive the death benefit if the insured pass away. There can be one or more beneficiary as long as the split of the money equals 100%
For example – Wife 75%, Child 25%
Secondary beneficiary – the second beneficiary is the next person that you would like the policy to pay if the insured and primary beneficiaries die at the same time. You can have more than one secondary beneficiary, but the split of the money must equal 100%.
For example – Son 50%, Daughter 50%.
In this case, you would be the payor, owner, and beneficiary of the life insurance policy and your ex-husband would only be the insured. Be sure and tell your ex-husband that he will not be liable for any missed payments.
As the policy owner, you have 100% control over the policy. You can decide on the mode of payment, the face amount and who will be the beneficiary. If you opt for permanent life insurance, you would also have complete control of the cash value.
CONCLUSION
Are you still preparing a divorce decree or do you need to buy life insurance after the divorce? No matter where you are in the divorce process, we can assist you to complete this process.
Life Wealth Win has worked with many people looking for life insurance after divorce. We are an independent life insurance agency that can walk you through the whole process together.
Fill in the instant QUOTE on this page, or give us a call at (888) 435-4342 and we will help you get coverage on your ex-husband today.
