# If you're imprisoned for life, can your family claim off your life insurance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2008, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000 "2008-01-18T10:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/1 "2008-01-18T10:50:54Z")
Just wondering, if someone was, for whatever crimes, sentenced to life imprisonment several times over with zero chance of parole and a sure conviction, could their family claim off their life insurance? If said person wasn’t around any more to provide an income at such short notice, they’re effectively financially dead (if that’s a term I can use and/or coin). I was thinking no due to the possibility of parole, which is why I put in all sorts of supporting circumstances above. Also, is it true that a man sentenced to life imprisonment was released after dying and being resuscitated? I remember it from a brief news article somewhere, but I’m wondering if its one of those urban legends that sounds so good, the papers have to print it too. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/2 "2008-01-18T11:13:56Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Just wondering, if someone was, for whatever crimes, sentenced to life imprisonment several times over with zero chance of parole and a sure conviction, could their family claim off their life insurance? If said person wasn’t around any more to provide an income at such short notice, they’re effectively financially dead (if that’s a term I can use and/or coin). [/QUOTE] No, because the insured person is still alive. It’s an insurance policy that says in the event of a person dying, the company will pay out amount x. Alternatively, there may be criticall illness cover too, where they will also pay out if a person is diagnosed with one of a number of conditions specified in the policy document. As such, why would they pay out just because a crime has been committed? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/3 "2008-01-18T12:02:11Z")
I was just wondering if there was a clause to support the disabled-mother-of-six-wife-of-a-criminal type, they’re never on the news but I’m sure they exist 😉 Just a random thought that I wanted to quickly dispel, one way or the other. Probably from watching the BBC’s [Louis Theroux Behind Bars](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7181055.stm). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/4 "2008-01-18T15:17:40Z")
Anyone with an insurance policy like this would have a strong incentive to commit violent crimes, so it seems unlikely that any company would offer it. See [Wikipedia on moral hazard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_hazard) for some background reading. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/5 "2008-01-18T20:37:22Z")
Note that in the documentary “Capturing the Friedmans”, the father committed suicide in jail in order for his family to collect a $250,000 life insurance policy. IIRC, he had to wait until the coverage-for-suicide part of the policy had to kick in. So you can make sure the family gets the money, but it’s not so simple. As to the OPs scenario: never say never. What if after 10 years, new DNA evidence pops up and the prisoner is freed or some such? Death, on the other hand, cannot be reversed on appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/6 "2008-01-18T20:46:51Z")
The more interesting question for me is whether the beneficiary can collect on the life insurance if the beneficiary is legally executed. The majority rule is that the beneficiary can recover under a life insurance policy after the insured is legally executed, at least if: 1. The execution happens after the incontestability period expires (normally two years); and 2. The policy doesn’t specifically exclude coverage for such things. A corollary to number two above is that there’s no coverage under an accidental death policy or a double indemnity provision that covers accidental death. _See, e.g._, _Modern Woodmen of America v. Kehoe_, 199 Miss. 754, 25 So.2d 463 (1946) (collecting cases). ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/7 "2008-01-18T22:46:46Z")
Can someone in prison even get life insurance? How about medical insurance. It would seem to me that once you are incarcerated you become a ward of the state. That and insurance companies would tend to shy away from someone in a hazard zone. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/8 "2008-01-18T22:53:42Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo] Can someone in prison even get life insurance? How about medical insurance. It would seem to me that once you are incarcerated you become a ward of the state. That and insurance companies would tend to shy away from someone in a hazard zone. [/QUOTE] I doubt you could get a new policy of either kind. We’re talking policies that were in place at the time of incarceration. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/9 "2008-01-18T23:19:54Z")
Yes, but don’t a lot of policies have disclaimers about being void in hazardous situations. I would think that prison would qualify as one. Sort of like war zones, sky diving and “in the act of committing a felony” sort of stuff. Can they cancel your policy “if” they find out you are incarcerated? I realize this may vary on location and by company. But generally speaking . . . ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/10 "2008-01-18T23:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo] Yes, but don’t a lot of policies have disclaimers about being void in hazardous situations. I would think that prison would qualify as one. Sort of like war zones, sky diving and “in the act of committing a felony” sort of stuff. Can they cancel your policy “if” they find out you are incarcerated? I realize this may vary on location and by company. But generally speaking . . . [/QUOTE] Some policies say coverage ends if you get incarcerated. Others are employment-based and will end once you are terminated and unemployed. Hazardous activities come into play in several ways: [Stempel on Insurance Contracts - Jeffrey W. Stempel - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=90rNaRfXf1oC&pg=PT350&dq=skydiving+life+insurance&ei=nz2RR8XCOJKetAPk99lH&sig=OafmcuumImzmk0npVwNarf46Ouo) By the way, getting back to the OP, this is an interesting case involving disability insurance during incarceration: [http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/SUPCT/159/op91-448.txt](http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/SUPCT/159/op91-448.txt) ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/11 "2008-01-19T12:12:28Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Just wondering, if someone was, for whatever crimes, sentenced to life imprisonment several times over with zero chance of parole and a sure conviction, could their family claim off their life insurance? If said person wasn’t around any more to provide an income at such short notice, they’re effectively financially dead (if that’s a term I can use and/or coin). [/QUOTE] OVER MY DEAD BODY THEY WILL! ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/12 "2008-01-19T13:32:36Z")
Once again, **Gfactor** , thank you for doing the oft-unappreciated and unthanked work of actually looking up cites and providing information to folks. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-imprisoned-for-life-can-your-family-claim-off-your-life-insurance/434000/13 "2008-01-19T23:05:01Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo] Can they cancel your policy “if” they find out you are incarcerated? [/QUOTE] The address on the proposal form would probably give it away.