Chapter E. Life Insurance Policies

• Jurisdiction: Washington

E LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES

In a sense a life insurance policy is a will substitute, because, like a will, it is a means of providing for a beneficiary upon the death of the insured, but without the need for the formalities of a will. Also like a will, it generally has no irrevocable effect until the insured's death, and it transfers no present interest to the beneficiary. Unlike a will, however, a life insurance policy does not transfer at death particular items of property owned by the decedent during his or her lifetime; it transfers only the proceeds of a contract between the insured and the insurer. Technicalities aside, life insurance is surely the most common means by which a person can provide for successors not only without the necessity of a will, but regardless of whether the person owns anything worth passing by will during his or her lifetime.

Despite their quasi-testamentary nature, life insurance policies are not considered to be testamentary¹⁵⁰ Nor does the fact that the insured retains the power to change the beneficiary or exercises that power before death render either the policy or the act of changing the beneficiary testamentary¹⁵¹

To dispel any doubt on the matter, the legislature included life insurance policies in the list of written instruments specifically deemed to be nontestamentary under RCW 11.02.091. Under this

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statute, discussed in detail below,¹⁵² it matters not how, or in what form or instrument (including a will), the beneficiary is designated.¹⁵³

A supplemental insurance...