Split Dollar Life Insurance
Definition of "Split dollar life insurance"
Policy in which premiums, ownership rights, and death proceeds are split between an employer and an employee, or between a parent and a child. The employer pays the part of each year's premium that at least equals the increase in the cash value. The employee may pay the remainder of the premium, or the employer may pay the entire premium. When the increase in cash value equals or exceeds the yearly premium, the employer pays the entire premium. If the employee dies while in the service of the employer, a beneficiary chosen by the employee receives the difference between the face value and the amount paid to the employer (the cash value or the total of all premiums paid by the employer- whichever is greater). Thus, during employment, the employee's share of the death benefit decreases. If the employee leaves the employer, the latter has the option of surrendering the policy in exchange for return of all premiums, or selling the policy to the employee for the amount of its cash value. There are two types of split dollar life insurance policies: Endorsement-the employer owns all policy privileges; the employee's only rights are to choose beneficiaries and to select the manner in which the death benefit is paid. Collateral-the employee owns the policy. The employer's contributions toward the premiums are viewed as a series of interest-free loans, which equal the yearly increase in the cash value of the policy. The employee assigns the policy to the employer as collateral for these loans. When the employee dies, the loans are paid from the face value of the policy. Any remaining proceeds are paid to the beneficiary.
Popular Insurance Terms
Amount of insurance coverage that an insurance company is willing to write on a given category of business. ...
Term describing illness, sickness, or disability incurred by the insured such that the insured is restricted to his or her home, a hospital, or a nursing home. Many health insurance ...
Extent of the loss caused by accidents. Used in predicting the dollar amount of losses upon which the premiums are based. ...
Present value of a future sum of money to be paid at a stipulated future date. ...
Insurance coverage for pitfalls associated with travel. The coverage can be classified as follows: Trip Cancellation the travelers) must cancel the trip because of unforeseen circumstances ...
Requirement that an individual must withdraw a minimum sum annually from retirement savings that have accumulated on a tax-deferred basis. This withdrawal must begin by April 1 of the year ...
Membership organization of state insurance commissioners. One of its goals is to promote uniformity of state regulation and legislation as it concerns the insurance industry. The NAIC ...
Organization of property insurance companies whose goal is to prevent and uncover fraudulent automobile fire and theft claims. ...
Failure to act with the legally required degree of care for others, resulting in harm to them. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.