Can I put in a general instruction for all insurance policies where I am the policy owner but not the life assured to transfer the policy ownership to the specific life assured (after my death) in my Will?
Important: Whether an insurance policy can indeed be distributed to the named beneficiaries in the Will in any described manner is still subject to any additional terms and restrictions within the policy itself.
If the policy has already been absolutely assigned to another party who becomes the new policyowner, you no longer retain the rights to give it away. Furthermore, if you have a valid insurance nomination in place, our generated Wills are drafted not to override those insurance nominations.
While you as the policyowner own and fund the policy, the payout and termination usually depend on the life assured (which may not be you as the policyowner). For instance, policies can terminate once the life assured passes away, or some policies may continue on with a secondary life assured. There could also be provisions for joint ownership (where the surviving joint policyowner automatically inherits the policy), automatic transfers under specific conditions, or other special terms and restrictions.
To confirm that a specific instruction for the policy can indeed be carried out via a Will, we recommend that you check directly with the respective insurer regarding your policy terms and restrictions, as well as the assignment and nomination status.
Subject to any additional terms and restrictions within the policy itself, you may do this through a Will.
Under Select Clauses >> Other Instructions, key in the following (edit the details accordingly):
For all insurance policies where I am the policy owner and my {Relationship}, {Name}, {Identification Number/details}, is the life assured, I direct my Executor(s) to transfer the policy ownership to {Beneficiary’s Name}.
If the intended beneficiary might still be underage, you can key in this instead (edit the details accordignly):
For all insurance policies where I am the policy owner and my {Relationship}, {Name}, {Identification Number/details}, is the life assured, I direct my Executor(s) to transfer ownership of the policies to {Beneficiary’s Name} upon my passing. If {Beneficiary’s Name} is not of sufficient age to legally hold the policies in his/her own name at that time, the policies shall be transferred to {Beneficiary’s Name}’s Guardian to hold in trust, with the express condition that full ownership is transferred to {Beneficiary’s Name} once he/she is of sufficient age to legally hold the policies him/herself.
The above includes all insurance policies bought before the testator's death (including policies bought after signing the Will).
You can repeat the instructions accordingly for each individual beneficiary.