Ashlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. Wh.
Ashlee Valentine Deputy Editor, InsuranceAshlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. Wh.
Written By Ashlee Valentine Deputy Editor, InsuranceAshlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. Wh.
Ashlee Valentine Deputy Editor, InsuranceAshlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. Wh.
Deputy Editor, Insurance Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
| Lead Editor, Insurance
Updated: Jan 3, 2024, 1:39am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
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Life insurance companies need to protect themselves from the possibility that someone could buy a policy with the intention of committing suicide shortly after so that their families receive a life insurance payment.
Suicide is not generally covered in the first two years of a life insurance policy but it is covered after that. This two-year period is known as a suicide clause.
If a suicide happens more than two years after getting a life insurance policy, the life insurance policy will pay out death benefit to the policy’s beneficiaries.
While beneficiaries are not entitled to death benefits if a suicide occurs during a policy’s first two years, they may receive a refund of the premiums that were paid into the policy before the death.
The exclusion for suicides includes instances of doctor-assisted suicide. Five states allow assisted suicide: California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Vermont.
If you’re the beneficiary of the life insurance policy you’ll need to know the name of the insurer that holds the policy and a certified copy of the death certificate in order to make a claim.
If you know of a loved one who is suffering from depression, there is help available. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has a 24/7 hotline that is free and confidential: 1-800-273-8255.
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Deputy Editor, InsuranceAshlee is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of hands-on experience in both business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life's most important assets. When Ashlee isn't spreading insurance knowledge or solving television murder mysteries, she enjoys spending time with her family (including the furry and feathery ones) on their farm in Kentucky.
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