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

Pension plan format. After deciding how much to contribute, the employer can suspend, reduce, or discontinue contributions during the first 10 years only for reasons of business necessity; ...

Latin phrase meaning "beyond power or authority" describing an act by a corporation that exceeds its legal powers. For example, corporations do not have the authority to engage in the ...

Process of discovering sources of loss concerning the property risk faced by individuals and business firms. The first step is to analyze possible perils that can damage or destroy both ...

Coverage that will indemnify the insured for the expenses, up to the limits of the policy, if a building is damaged by a peril such as fire, and zoning requirements and/or building codes ...

Right of survivors to the interest in property of a deceased joint tenant as the result of property held in joint tenancy. ...

Investments restricted to short-term financial instruments issued by state, city, and county governments and agencies. Interest paid by those instruments are not subject to federal income ...

Technique of risk management. It ensures that an individual or business does not incur any liability relating to a given activity by avoiding the activity in question. For example, a ...

Coverage in a separate policy or as an endorsement to the commercial general liability (CGL) form, for liability exposures for an employee who drives a leased car or his or her own ...

Day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open for transactions; used in calculating accumulation unit values for variable dollar insurance products. ...

Popular Insurance Questions