Don't delay choosing nominee for life insurance policy, say analysts

Select a dependent or person likely to shoulder family's financial responsibilities

The Madras High Court ruled in a recent case that a dependent wife did not have any legal claim to the life insurance proceeds from her husband’s death if the latter had not paid the policy premiums. In this case, the father-in-law had paid all the policy premiums. The deceased had not appointed a nominee for the policy, nor declared through a Will that his wife should receive the payout. 

In the order, the judge wrote: “It is no doubt true that wife, mother and children are Class-I heirs of a male deceased, and not the father. But heirship will