My term insurance nominee is my ex-wife. Do I cancel my policy?

Yes, you can change your nominee any time you want. 

You may need to explain to the insurer why you want to change the nominee and also you may need to prove your insurable interest (i.e. how will the nominee be affected financially by your demise). 

Typically, nominees can be: 
 

• Your spouse 

• Your blood relations 

• Your business partner

You can choose as your nominee any person with an insurable interest in you. This means, they will be financially impacted by your death. 

Remember, you need to be able to prove their insurable interest to the insurer.

Typically, nominee(s) can be

• A family member (parent/sibling/spouse and kids)

• A business partner

You can change your term insurance nominee whenever you want. If your ex-wife is your term insurance nominee, you can take the below actions:

• Remove your ex as the nominee on your term plan 
   

• Inform your insurer about why you want to change the nominee
   

• Speak to a legal advisor if your policy is included in your divorce settlement to avoid future disputes

While the process is fairly simple, the problem arises when your ex is also the assignee of your policy aka she has the sole right (ownership) of the policy. 

It is different from a nominee who only gets the insurance money after your death but doesn’t have the rights to the policy.

In that case, you need to get them to reassign you the policy before the divorce is finalized.

Lastly, you can add new nominees to your term plan such as:

• Your new spouse

• Your child

• Your parents

If your new nominee is a minor child, don’t forget to appoint a legal guardian (appointee) who will receive the insurance money on behalf of your child. 

If you are currently unmarried but are dating someone, you may want to make your partner your nominee. Sadly, you can’t.