Do life insurance proceeds go through probate?
Whether proceeds from your life insurance policy will have to go through probate depends
on who you have named as your beneficiary. According to The Five-Minute Attorney's Guide
to Estate Planning (Dell Publishing, New York), "If you name an individual (other
than yourself) or a trust as the beneficiary of the policy, the money is transferred
outside of probate directly to the beneficiary, saving time and money in the process. If
your goal is to make those proceeds available to your family to cover expenses, this would
be the way to go." Conversely, if you have named yourself as the beneficiary of the
policy or have chosen no beneficiary at all, the proceeds will become part of your estate
and must go through probate. The insurer will issue the check to the probate court, which
will then distribute the proceeds according to your will.