Transferring Key Person Insurance to an Employee

Transfer Key Person Insurance to Employee: What Changes

Can You Transfer Key Person Insurance to the Employee It Covers?

Often, yes. A company that owns a key person life insurance policy on an employee can usually transfer ownership of that policy to the employee, with the insurer’s approval. The transfer changes who owns the policy and who pays the premiums from that point on. It does not, by itself, change who is insured.

Key person insurance is a life insurance policy a business owns on someone whose work or loss would hurt the company. The Insurance Information Institute explains that this coverage helps a business recover financial losses after a key employee’s death or disability.

This page covers the ownership change, the tax rules that follow, the paperwork, and the other options a company has. It is written for business owners in Florida and across the United States, and for family members helping someone who is facing a change.

How Owner, Insured, and Beneficiary Fit Together

The owner, the insured, and the beneficiary can be three different people. The owner controls the policy and pays the premiums. The insured is the person whose life the policy covers. The beneficiary receives the death benefit when the insured dies.

In most company-owned key person policies, the company is the owner and the beneficiary, and the employee is the insured. A transfer of ownership moves control and premium payments to the new owner. A change of beneficiary is a separate step. The two can happen at different times, or only one may happen.

Ownership matters most for a whole life insurance policy. Whole life policies build cash value, and the owner controls that value. The owner decides on loans, withdrawals, and surrender. When the owner changes, control of that value moves too.

A term life insurance policy has no cash value to move. Ownership and beneficiary rules still apply, though. Check the current owner and beneficiary in the insurer’s records before you change anything.

The Transfer-for-Value Rule and Its Exceptions

A transfer for value can limit the tax-free part of a death benefit. The cap equals the actual value of what was paid, plus later premiums the new owner paid (26 U.S.C. § 101).

In plain words, the transfer-for-value rule has listed exceptions, and a transfer to the insured person is one of them (26 U.S.C. § 101(a)(2)). Any death benefit above that cap can become taxable income.

The statute also lists exceptions, so the result depends on who receives the policy. The same statute defines a “reportable policy sale.” That is an acquisition of an interest in a life insurance contract by a buyer with no substantial family, business, or financial relationship with the insured, apart from that interest. Whether that definition applies depends on the relationships involved.

Even when an exception applies, the transfer can still have tax effects. Those effects need their own review before the paperwork is signed.

Tax Effects a Transfer Can Have

The tax result of a transfer depends on what changes hands and for how much. The price paid, the policy’s value at transfer, and the premiums paid afterward all matter.

When a company gives a policy to an employee for no payment, the tax rules may treat the transfer as a gift. Under the gift tax regulation, for a policy issued by a company regularly engaged in selling contracts of that character, a gift of an in-force policy is generally valued by the company’s sale price of that contract or comparable contracts; where that is not readily ascertainable, the value may be approximated by adding the interpolated terminal reserve at the date of the gift to the part of the last premium that covers the period after the gift, unless that approximation is not reasonably close to full value (26 C.F.R. § 25.2512-6). This is a valuation method, not a set dollar figure.

Other rules also apply. A company generally cannot deduct premiums on a policy when it is, directly or indirectly, a beneficiary (26 U.S.C. § 264). Companies that own these contracts may also have an annual filing duty (26 U.S.C. § 6039I).

If the employee still owns the policy at death, the death benefit may count in that person’s gross estate (26 U.S.C. § 2042). That matters for estate planning, so include it in the review.

Tax reporting questions belong to the firm’s accounting practice. Insurance is offered separately, through the licensed agent.

Steps Involved in Transferring Ownership

Before you transfer key person insurance to employee ownership, start with the insurer. Ask for its ownership change form and the policy’s current values. Keep every form and confirmation together.

Next, record the company’s decision in writing. A written resolution or owner approval shows why the transfer happened and what price was set. Set the price and the valuation method before anyone signs.

Review the beneficiary designation after the transfer. The new owner may want a different beneficiary than the company. That change uses a separate form, and the insurer processes it.

Florida also has consent rules. A business may hold insurance on a key person only if it has that person’s written consent, obtained before the insurance is purchased. The company may not retaliate against a key employee who refuses (Fla. Stat. § 627.404).

Finally, the insurer completes the change. Keep copies of all forms and written confirmations.

Alternatives to Transferring the Policy

The company can keep the policy in place instead of transferring it. In that case, the company stays as owner and beneficiary. It can then review the coverage when the employee’s role changes. Many companies choose this path while the employee is still working.

A key person policy can also be tied to a buy-sell agreement. In that setup, the policy helps fund the purchase of an owner’s share. That changes how a transfer is viewed, because the policy’s purpose is linked to the agreement. Review the agreement before moving any policy.

Term length matters too. Term life insurance covers a set period. Whole life insurance lasts for the insured’s life and builds cash value. Choosing between them is a separate decision from ownership, so review it on its own.

Some companies keep ownership and use a different arrangement with the employee, such as a bonus. Each option carries its own tax and paperwork effects.

Sole Owner Businesses and Florida Considerations

In a sole owner business, the owner and the key person are often the same individual. That changes the review. The policy may be held personally, through the business, or through a trust. Each setup has different tax and estate results, so confirm how the policy is titled first.

Florida law adds a few points. A business’s insurable interest in a key person requires written consent before the insurance is purchased. Florida law also says the insurable interest need not exist after coverage starts (Fla. Stat. § 627.404).

The company’s structure, its governing documents, and the policy contract still need review. The governing documents may set who can approve a transfer.

Talk Through Your Situation in a Coverage Review

Many transfers begin when something changes. A key employee becomes ill, leaves the company, or plans to retire. The owner then has to decide whether the policy stays with the company or moves to that person.

A coverage review is the first meeting with our team. We look at the policy terms, who owns the policy and who is named as beneficiary, the tax questions a transfer raises, and the options open to the company. We can also explain how the policy fits with any buy-sell agreement.

If you are weighing a transfer, contact NR CPAs & Business Advisors to set up a coverage review. Insurance is offered by Nischay Rawal, a licensed insurance agent, separately from the firm’s accounting practice. When soliciting or selling these products, Florida law requires the agent to clearly indicate to prospective insureds that they are acting as insurance agents with regard to insurance products and identified insurers, or other risk bearing entities authorized and approved to do business in Florida (Fla. Stat. § 626.9531).

Frequently Asked Questions