A Primer For Agents Considering Life Settlements

For agents considering life settlements for their clients, full disclosure must be embraced from the outset. It starts with analyzing the insurance policies being considered for a settlement and ends with a thorough review of the offer, closing statements and long-term plans for the policies.

Begin with a review of your state’s life settlement regulations. Some states have no regulations while others are remarkably thorough. The agent and the provider must be compliant in the state in which the transaction is conducted.

Each life settlement must include an analysis of the insurance policy that is being considered and why that policy was purchased in the first place. Insurable interest is critical, as are other key issues.

While individual state definitions vary, insurable interest must be demonstrated in order for a life insurance policy to be valid. It must exist at the time of issue of the life insurance policy, or it is void as a matter of law.

It can be defined or determined in several ways including the following:

o The owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy are closely related by blood or law.

o There exists a substantial interest between the insured, the owner and beneficiaries of the policy which is based in love and affection.

o The owner and beneficiaries have a lawful, substantial economic interest in the continued life, health and safety of the insured person.

Insurable interest is lacking when life insurance is underwritten in a scenario in which benefits arise or appreciate only from the death, disability or injury of the insured person.

If insurable interest is questionable, life settlement companies may not purchase the policy. Also at issue are so-called non-recourse premium financing arrangements.

With these arrangements, an agent or financial planner typically initiates the life insurance process, and the insured is often advised to create a vehicle such as an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), a limited partnership or a limited liability company to own the policy. Instead of the policy owner paying the policy premiums, a lender provides funds to the policy-owning entity to pay premiums for the first several years. As a result, the lender obtains a collateral assignment on the policy. These arrangements can be problematic for a number of reasons, and insurance carriers may begin to call them into question.

Other issues which need to be considered are instances of “wet paper” and “cleansheeting.” If an investment company induces a policyholder to buy a policy, and then the policyholder turns around and sells it soon thereafter, this is considered wet paper and can be rejected by life settlement providers.