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Life Insurance and Divorce

By Martin M. Shenkman and Richard M. Weber
June 28, 2005

Life Insurance is an important matter in most divorces. There are a host of issues that are not addressed in the typical negotiation. Consider the following sample insurance clause from a Property Settlement Agreement [PSA]: “The husband shall maintain life insurance for the wife having an aggregate death benefit of $250,000. Said obligation shall be terminated if the husband's obligation to pay alimony is modified/terminated. The husband shall maintain life insurance having an aggregate death benefit of $250,000 for the benefit of the unemancipated children. Said benefit shall be reduced by $75,000 upon the emancipation of the first child and again upon the emancipation of the second child. The obligation to maintain any life insurance for the children shall terminate upon the emancipation of all Three [3] children.”

There are many important decisions and considerations not addressed in a simplistic — and typical — clause like this, and practitioners need practical recommendations and advice on how better to address life insurance issues.

For the discussion below, we assume that the insured/payor client is a reasonably healthy (but not a marathon-running) 47-year-old, non-smoking male, needing $250,000 life insurance coverage. The prices are based on information obtained from various insurance companies.

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