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Can I Buy Life Insurance for My Father?
“Can I buy life insurance for my father?” We’ve heard that question many times – and we’ll explain why the answer is usually yes. Getting a more precise answer will depend on whether you’re asking about the actual buying process - whether it’s possible for you to apply and pay on your father’s behalf – or whether you’re asking about whether the life insurance company would approve you as a payer, owner, or beneficiary on the policy.
How the Life Insurance Process Works
Usually, the person who will be insured is the person who applies for a policy. They are usually also the person who pays for the policy. As part of the application process, the insured person will name one or more primary beneficiaries. If they name more than one, they must also specify the percentage of the death benefit each beneficiary should receive. They also have the option to name contingent beneficiaries. If their primary beneficiary(ies) has predeceased the covered person, their contingent beneficiary(ies) would get the money. For most parents and kids, the parents would buy the life insurance policy on themselves, and name one or more children as their beneficiary(ies).
But it doesn’t necessarily have to work that way. But to understand how this process can change, you need to understand the four different roles possible in the life insurance process.
Rather ask a real person, “Can I buy life insurance for my father?” We’re here for you! Call us at (800) 521-7873 or email us at info@lifequote.com for one-on-one advice! Or click the button below to get started with a term life quote.
Roles in the Life Insurance Process
- Insured. This is the person whose life is being insured – in this case, your father.
- Owner. This is the person responsible for making decisions about the policy: updating beneficiaries and managing the account. This can be the insured, but doesn’t have to be. The owner can also be an entity, like a trust. In this example, let’s say you will be the policy owner.
- Payor. This is the person responsible for paying the monthly (or yearly) premiums for the policy. This can be the owner and/or the insured, but doesn’t have to be. The payor can also be an entity, like a trust – and that trust’s administrator would then be responsible for making those payments on time. For the sake of this example, let’s say you will be the owner and the payor for your father’s policy.
- Beneficiary. The beneficiary is the person who will receive the death benefit after the insured passes away. This can be the owner and/or payor, but it doesn’t have to be. In this example, you would probably also be at least one of the beneficiaries.
Want advice from a real person on how to set up your family’s life insurance? We’re here for you! Call us at (800) 521-7873 or email us at info@lifequote.com for one-on-one advice! Or click the button below to get started with a term life quote.
Can I Buy Life Insurance for My Father?
You can buy life insurance for your father (as the policy’s owner and payor) if there is an insurable interest. That means your father’s death would have financial consequences for you. The amount you’d be allowed to buy would depend on those financial consequences, which can be relatively small or large:
- Relatively small financial consequences: If you would be responsible for your father’s funeral, burial, and final medical expenses, your policy’s face value should be in line with those costs. A million-dollar policy would be unlikely to be approved if these were your only financial consequences, in other words.
- Relatively large financial consequences: But let’s say your father supports you financially. If he pays your rent or mortgage, utilities, food, health insurance, or other major and ongoing life expenses, his death would cause much more serious financial complications for you. That would enable you to buy a larger policy on him. Or if you would be responsible for paying your father’s debts and mortgage after he passed away, that would also qualify as large financial consequences.
The insurance company may also want to verify your insurable interest. This is usually done over the phone, or by providing a copy of your ID to the insurer. It’s up to the insurer if or how they choose to verify insurable interest.
Want advice from a real person on how much life insurance you can buy for your father? We’re here for you! Call us at (800) 521-7873 or email us at info@lifequote.com for one-on-one advice! Or click the button below to get started with a term life quote.
How Would the Life Insurance Buying Process Work?
First things first: the insured person – your father – will need to participate in the buying process. It’s not possible to buy life insurance for someone else without their knowledge or participation, in other words. If you were asking “can I buy life insurance for my father” with the intent of completing the process by yourself, that’s not going to be possible.
You can help him through the process, but it’s not legal to submit an application without the insured person’s authentic signature (a physical “wet” signature or a digital eSignature). The insured person must be capable of providing consent. If your father is in the advanced stages of dementia, for example, consent is not considered possible to give.
Your father may also need to take a free medical exam, if required by the insurer:
- Policies that require an exam: These are often less expensive because the exam gives the insurer a more complete and up-to-date picture of your father’s heath, which is what they need to price the policy appropriately. The application will contain a range of health and lifestyle questions your father would need to answer, as the insured. It’s fine to have someone help him complete the application, whether that’s you or one of our application specialists, but your father would need to provide the answers.
- No exam policies: These only require an application, which consists of a medical questionnaire. One type of coverage, guaranteed issue, will have a much shorter questionnaire since it’s intended for people with some medical issues (potentially severe). Guaranteed issue policies will ask a short series of questions to make sure the applicant isn’t already diagnosed with a terminal illness or advanced dementia, or residing in a nursing home. Questionnaires for policies that are not guaranteed issue (term, whole life, etc.) will be more extensive, asking about the insured person’s health history, family health history, job, lifestyle, and more. Your father would need to be able to answer these questions, although someone else – you, or one of our application specialists – could fill out the actual application for him.
To complete the application process, the life insurance broker or company would need your father to physically sign or digitally sign his application. If you’re acting as the policy owner and payor, you could handle the paperwork required to place the policy in force (make it active) after the completion of the underwriting process.
Rather ask a real person, “Can I buy life insurance for my father?” Call us at (800) 521-7873 or email us at info@lifequote.com for one-on-one advice! Or click the button below to get started with a term life quote.
