Sole Proprietor Life And Health Insurance

Definition of "Sole proprietor life and health insurance"

Coverage for the owner of a business. When a proprietor dies, debts of the business become the debts of the estate since in this circumstance the law recognizes business and personal assets as one. The executor is required to dispose of the business as quickly as possible. Life insurance can fund the disposition in several ways:

  1. If the business is transferred through a will, the life insurance's death benefit can be applied to the deceased proprietor's personal and business debts and estate taxes.
  2. If the executor conducts a forced sale or liquidation, a death benefit can be used to reduce or eliminate any debts. The death benefit can also be used as a source of working capital for interim financing to operate the business in the short run.
  3. If the business is to be transferred to a child or employee, the death benefit can provide funds to effect the transfer.
  4. If the business is to be sold to a key employee (s) through a buy-and-sell agreement, the key employee (s) usually has previously bought a life insurance policy on the sole proprietor and made all premium payments. The buy-and-sell agreement stipulates the formula to be used in valuing the business as well as other conditions of the sale. Upon the death of the proprietor and the sale of the business to the key employee (s), the proprietor's estate receives the cash amount according to the buy-and-sell agreement, and the key employee (s) receives the deceased proprietor's business.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

worth of each accumulation unit at the end of each valuation period for a variable annuity. This value is similar to that of the net asset value for a mutual fund. ...

In property insurance, a stipulated agreement between the insurance company and the insured that the amount of insurance coverage under the policy is sufficient to be in compliance with the ...

Computer system established by London trade associations for processing insurance policies. The work of LIMNET involves the notification and settlement of insurance policy claims. ...

Record of losses, whether or not insured. This record is used in predicting future losses and in developing premium rates based on expectation of insured losses. ...

Decision in the absence of a plaintiff or defendant at the specified court time. ...

Process of distributing the costs associated with losses and risks over a number of insureds. ...

Property coverage for damage or destruction of structures in the course of construction. For example, the standing frame of a house destroyed by fire would be covered. ...

Insurance company's investment in mortgages that have defaulted (mortgages in default) divided by its adjusted surplus account. The smaller this ratio, the more financially sound the ...

Reserves required by state regulators. Because regulators must assure that an insurance company remains solvent and that it can pay future claims, they set conservative standards for ...

Popular Insurance Questions