How Does Bankruptcy Affect Getting Life Insurance?
Going through bankruptcy is a difficult thing for anyone. While it might be important when creditors are becoming a serious problem, it is still something no person wants to face.
If you find yourself going through bankruptcy, you should know at least some ways to remain protected. One is to ensure that not everything is taken from you during this, and that includes your savings. Possibly the most important thing you must protect is life insurance because if you do not, creditors may leave your family with nothing after your death.
While you need to pay off creditors, you also need to keep a few things to yourself. During bankruptcy, creditors will want to take whatever they can without any regards to you or your family. This means you may end up in a hole that is near impossible to escape, a situation that may worsen if they took your safety net.
What is Protected?
Life insurance is too important to give up. If you were to pass, this is what helps to pay expenses so that your family does not end up in a bad financial situation. To prevent creditors from taking this, you need to understand what you can do. Under federal exemptions, you can protect up $10,775 of a life insurance policy’s cash value. Also, married couples may double all exemptions under the federal bankruptcy code.
If you fear that bankruptcy might take your life insurance, you can make it exempt. This will give you the chance to keep your money, or at least some of it, so that your family is not left with nothing after your passing.
You do have to look into what your specific state allows. All states are going to be different, some only protecting up to a certain amount and others requiring that you have had this insurance for a certain amount of time, so you should know more about the facts. One way you may be protected is if you have cheap life insurance. This will put you under the maximums for several states, making it possible to keep your money.
This exemption can give you at least some peace of mind in your life, something you need during such a stressful time. No matter what is allowed for it, as long as you qualify for the exemption, you can benefit from it. You have that extra security so that your family will always have something, regardless of the situation they find themselves.
Buying Life Insurance After Bankruptcy
Waiting for your bankruptcy to be completely off your records is not a good excuse to put off applying for life insurance. If cost is an issue, at least consider taking out a 10 year year term policy to make sure your family is protected. Going with a shorter term policy will be cheaper for now until you can get back on your feet. The only risk is that if something happens to your health that makes getting life insurance 10 years that much more expensive or, at worse, unattainable.
Before you apply for affordable life insurance, you’ll want to make sure that your bankruptcy is completely discharged. Most insurance companies won’t underwrite you in you’re in the middle of the bankruptcy process. Luckily, if the bankruptcy is discharged you shouldn’t have issue finding an insurance company willing to underwrite you.
The Internet is filled with free online term life quotes that allow you to get a quote in a minutes. Be sure to make them aware that you have filed bankruptcy recently. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when applying for life insurance is not being up front with the carriers. I promise you they will find out and if you try to hide it it will only hurt your chances on getting approved.
Understand Your Options
If you are facing bankruptcy, it is important to know everything you can do. Letting creditors have their way with everything you have to your name might result in you having nothing left. This is not only added stress, but it could hurt you in the long run. By taking advantage of what is out there, you can keep yourself in the green and make it easier to get back on your feet after this has finished.
This is a guest post from Jeff Rose, a certified financial planner and founder of LifeInsurancebyJeff.com. A site dedicated to helping families find affordable life insurance.
