Life Insurance Policy Review

Life insurance policies should generally be reviewed every two to three years, or sooner if there has been a significant change in your financial situation, family circumstances, estate plan, business interests, or tax environment. Because life insurance is often designed to support long-term planning objectives, periodic reviews help ensure the policy continues to perform as expected and remains aligned with its intended purpose.

A comprehensive policy review typically includes a current in-force illustration, policy statements, ownership and beneficiary information, and an understanding of your broader planning objectives.

Additional information regarding trusts, business interests, estate planning strategies, or existing financing arrangements may also be helpful. The goal is to evaluate both the policy itself and how it fits within your overall financial, estate, or business planning strategy.

In many cases, yes. A policy review may uncover opportunities to improve performance, reduce risk, adjust funding strategies, modify ownership structures, or better align the policy with current planning objectives. While replacement may be appropriate in some situations, many reviews result in recommendations that preserve the existing policy while addressing identified concerns or inefficiencies.

Virtually any life insurance policy can benefit from periodic review, including universal life, indexed universal life, variable universal life, whole life, survivorship life insurance, and trust-owned policies.

Policies designed to support estate planning, business succession planning, wealth transfer, or charitable objectives often warrant particular attention because they are frequently intended to remain in force for many years or even decades.

Trust-owned policies should be reviewed whenever there are changes to the trust, trustees, beneficiaries, gifting strategies, or estate planning objectives. In addition, policy performance should be monitored periodically to help ensure funding assumptions remain appropriate.

Because trust-owned policies are often designed to support long-term wealth transfer strategies, regular reviews can help identify issues before they affect the intended outcome.

Life insurance policies are often designed based on assumptions regarding interest rates, funding schedules, tax laws, and long-term objectives. Over time, those assumptions may change. A policy review helps evaluate whether the coverage continues to perform as expected, identify potential risks or inefficiencies, and ensure the strategy remains aligned with your current goals. Regular reviews can provide greater clarity and confidence regarding the role the policy plays within your overall plan.

A policy review may be warranted if premium requirements have increased, cash values are underperforming expectations, policy loans have accumulated, ownership or beneficiary arrangements have changed, or the policy has not been reviewed in several years. Reviews are also often appropriate following major life events, business transitions, estate planning updates, or significant changes in tax law. Identifying potential issues early can help preserve flexibility and reduce risk.

Yes. A comprehensive review can help identify concerns such as policy lapse risk, underperformance, funding shortfalls, excessive loan balances, or misalignment with current planning objectives.

By evaluating both the policy and the broader strategy surrounding it, a review can uncover opportunities to address potential issues before they become more significant.

For many families and business owners, periodic reviews serve as an important risk management tool within a larger planning framework.

Yes.

Significant changes to your estate plan are often an ideal time to review your life insurance coverage and ownership structure. Updates involving trusts, beneficiaries, gifting strategies, business succession plans, charitable objectives, or estate tax planning can affect the role your policy is intended to serve.

A policy review helps ensure the coverage, ownership arrangements, and funding strategy remain aligned with your current goals and planning objectives. Reviewing your policy after making estate planning changes can also help identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and ensure all components of your plan continue to work together as intended.

Depending on the findings, recommendations may include restructuring ownership through an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) or evaluating life insurance premium financing for replacement coverage when appropriate.