Ace Your Life-Producer Maryland Insurance Exam

Beneficiary designation concepts.

Life insurance policies allow the owner to name beneficiaries who receive proceeds at death.

Revocable vs. irrevocable designations.

A revocable beneficiary can be changed by the policyowner at any time without the beneficiary’s consent.

An irrevocable beneficiary cannot be changed without the beneficiary’s written consent.

Evaluate each option.

A. Contingent designation

Refers to a secondary beneficiary, not the right to change.

B. Irrevocable designation

Opposite of the described situation.

C. Contestable designation

Not a valid beneficiary term.

D. Revocable designation

Correct. This allows the policyowner to change beneficiaries.

Maryland relevance.

Maryland recognizes revocable beneficiary designations unless the policy specifically states otherwise.

Conclusion.

Reserving the right to change beneficiaries is a revocable designation.

Participating life insurance policies are typically issued by mutual insurers and allow policyholders to:

Receive dividends (A), which are excess profits returned to policyholders.

Policyholders are not assessed for losses (B); insurers absorb losses.

The insured and policyowner can be separate entities, invalidating (C).

Mutual insurers, not stock companies, issue most participating policies, making (D) incorrect.

The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) collects and shares medical information among member insurance companies to assess risk:

Member insurance companies (B) are the only entities authorized to access MIB data, ensuring confidentiality and appropriate use.

Employment agencies (A) and employers (C) cannot access MIB data.

Physicians (D) are also excluded, as MIB serves the insurance underwriting process exclusively.

What a class designation means.

A class designation identifies beneficiaries by category, not by individual names.

Common class examples include:

“Children of the insured”

“Surviving spouse”

Why class designations are used.

Allows flexibility when:

Family composition may change

Children are born after policy issuance

The insured wants automatic inclusion of qualifying members

Evaluate each option.

A. Naming children without naming them individually

Correct. This is the textbook example of a class designation.

B. Charity

A charity must be named specifically.

C. Trust fund

A trust must be named as a legal entity.

D. Specific beneficiary on behalf of a group

This is not a class designation.

Maryland beneficiary rules.

Maryland recognizes class designations as valid if clearly defined and not ambiguous.

Conclusion.

A class designation is properly used to name children as beneficiaries without listing them individually.