I’m looking for advice because I couldn’t find a clear answer online. I thought people here might know more.
My sister recently asked our dad if she could take out a life insurance policy on him. He said no because he believes that if she does, it could cancel out our mom’s policy on him through her work.
He thinks if my sister takes out a $20,000 policy, it would override and cancel our mom’s $30,000 policy.
Any information on how this actually works would be really helpful. We live in Ohio.
That doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for it to cancel out. The total coverage would just be $50,000, but that amount might be too low for your needs anyway.
It doesn’t work that way. One policy doesn’t cancel another unless it’s a replacement policy. You can have individual insurance alongside a group policy, and it’s a good idea to do so.
Why do your elderly parents need life insurance at all?
Funerals… over $12K on a ground funeral; about $3K a cremation with no viewing.
So then they would only need about $15k? I’d recommend just self-insuring that and split it with their family, unless they definitely won’t be able to come up with $15k.
He might have seen something in your mom’s work insurance documents stating that dual coverage isn’t allowed. However, that typically means dual coverage under their own plan—like if both parents worked there and he had employee insurance, she couldn’t also have spouse insurance on him under the same policy.
But no, as others have mentioned, your sister’s policy wouldn’t affect your mother’s policy.
But why is the sister wanting a policy on her dad? Who’ll be the beneficiary??
She wants to be the sole beneficiary
Like an inheritance???
Yes. I think that is her intent. I’m less concerned with my sister since my dad denied her request.
I’m more interested in providing accurate information for my father to make informed decisions going forward.