Changing Your Policy When You Marry
If you have gotten married, or soon will be married, it's probably time to make some important changes to your life insurance policy. Most importantly, consider changing your beneficiary and possibly secondary beneficiaries on the policy, to avoid accidentally excluding your spouse. You may also want to purchase additional coverage, or add policy riders or features that will benefit your spouse.
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Instructions
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Contact your insurance agent. Normally, this is the agent who sold you the policy to begin with. Part of the agent's responsibility is to service your policy and help you keep it updated to suit your situation as your needs evolve. However, agents can and do leave the company, so you may be assigned a new agent from time to time. Some companies sell direct, bypassing the agent. In this case, you will simply need to call the toll-free number on your policy.
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Reassess your life insurance needs. In many cases, you will need more coverage once you have gotten married, since your spouse may depend on your income to raise children and stay in your home. Or you may want to add a rider that allows your spouse to purchase additional insurance, regardless of medical condition, upon your death.
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Consider purchasing life insurance for your spouse. Just as you are protecting your new spouse by owning a life insurance policy for yourself, you may also need to protect yourself against the financial catastrophe that would occur if your spouse passed away.
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Execute any guaranteed purchase riders. These are provisions in your policy that guarantee you the right to purchase additional coverage at certain ages, or upon your marriage or the arrival of a child, regardless of your medical condition. This is particularly important if you have health challenges, because you may not be able to get the coverage through conventional means. You also may only have a limited amount of time to take advantage of these guarantees.
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Execute the amendments to your life insurance policy. These are the documents you must sign that authorize your insurance policy to make the changes you want to make. Sign these documents and return them to your agent or directly to the insurance company. Your agent will return in a few days to a few weeks with an updated policy and illustration, reflecting the changes. Inspect these documents carefully to ensure they are correct.
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