Requirements To Buy Burial Insurance For A Sibling
The following is required to buy a funeral insurance plan for your sibling:
- Their consent: They must agree to the policy being issued by signing the application.
- Insurable interest: This is another way of saying, how would you be financially impacted upon the insured’s death? If you’re seeking coverage for funeral costs, the financial impact is evident and requires no explanation. They are your brother/sister, and their end-of-life expenses would be a burden. Therefore, every final expense insurance company will allow you to buy a burial insurance plan for your sibling. There will be no questions about insurable interest, a financial burden, or anything else related to why you’re buying the coverage.
- Answers to health questions: If you opt for a plan with no waiting period, your sibling must answer health questions. When completing the formal application, you cannot answer the questions on their behalf (even if you have power of attorney). They must do it. Some plans have no health questions, but they cost significantly more and have a 2-year waiting period before being covered for natural causes of death.
- Located in the USA: Your brother or sister must physically be present in the USA when you complete the application.
- Mentally capable of signing a contract: They cannot have a mental incapacity rendering them unable to legally sign their name to a contract.
It’s perfectly acceptable to have a preliminary conversation with an agent to familiarize yourself with the cost and process. However, you will need your sibling’s participation when you go to apply for them or any other family member.
How Does Final Expense Insurance For A Sibling Work?
You will be the payer and primary beneficiary of the policy; your sibling is merely the insured. However, if you prefer, you can name someone as the beneficiary if you want someone else to receive the policy’s proceeds. Also, you can name a contingent (backup/secondary) beneficiary. That individual(s) would only receive the death benefit if you were not alive when your sibling died.
A senior final expense policy (often referred to as burial or funeral insurance) is a small life insurance policy designed to cover your end-of-life costs.
These plans don’t require an exam, and they approve most applicants despite having severe health issues. Most burial insurance companies will allow you to purchase $2,000-$50,000 in coverage for a brother or sister.
A whole life policy is straightforward to explain:
- Prices will never change.
- Coverage will never decrease.
- The policy will never expire.
- Builds cash value that you can borrow.
Essentially, once the policy is issued, it will never change or end at any point (unless you stop making the payments). Ultimately, the policy will pay out a tax-free cash payment directly to the beneficiary.
There are no restrictions on how the beneficiaries spend the money. So if you buy a funeral insurance policy for a sibling and don’t use all the money on the funeral, the leftover funds are yours to use any way you want.
No waiting period policies
Some funeral life insurance plans have a 2-3 year waiting period provision. During this time, the insurance company would not pay out a death benefit for any non-accidental death. Instead, they would reimburse all your premiums with interest (usually, it’s 10%).
At the same time, some plans have no waiting period. The main thing to understand is that you must qualify for a policy with no waiting period.
Your brother or sister does not have to take a medical exam to get a no waiting period policy, but they will have to answer health questions.
Thankfully, most people can qualify for a no waiting period burial policy despite high-risk health ailments. Please don’t assume your sibling can’t get an immediate coverage policy because they probably can.
Call us at 1-800-644-2926, and one of our agents can determine all your siblings’ options within 60 seconds.
Guaranteed acceptance coverage
Some companies, like AAA, Gerber Life, or Physicians Mutual, have plans that require no health questions.
With these policies, your acceptance is guaranteed.
Understand that a plan like this (no matter which insurance company you’re dealing with) will always have a 2-year waiting period since they know absolutely nothing about the insured’s health.
The thing is, sometimes, a guaranteed acceptance plan is your only option. While it’s not common, there are some situations where a no health question plan is indeed your only option.
Here are some examples of health conditions where a guaranteed acceptance policy is your only path to a new insurance policy being issued:
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s
- Currently in a hospital or nursing facility
- AIDS or HIV
- Terminal illness
- Confined to a wheelchair due to a chronic illness/disease
There are other situations where guaranteed issue life insurance is your only option, but that covers most of them.
Hopefully, it’s unnecessary, but take comfort in knowing that you can get a guaranteed acceptance policy as a last resort.
How To Apply For Funeral Insurance For A Sibling
Assuming your sibling has agreed to the policy being issued, the next step is to complete the application.
There are essentially three ways to apply.
- E-application: Your agent will gather all the data necessary to complete the application. If there are health questions, they will review them with your brother or sister. Then, you and your sibling would receive an email or text to access the application. Then you guys both click a few buttons to apply your electronic signature.
- Voice signature: Your agent collects all the necessary data to complete the application, reading the health questions (if any) along the way. Then, you will both sign the application by speaking your name and the date, such as “Yes, I agree. My name is [your name] and today is [today’s date].” That will complete the application and get it submitted to the insurance carrier.
- Paper application: While it’s rarely necessary, some situations warrant a paper application to be mailed to you so you can apply a wet signature. Once you both sign the application and send it back to your agent, they will submit it to the insurance company for processing. One thing to remember about paper applications is that you and your brother or sister must live close to one another. If you live in separate states, applying via paper is impossible. You both must sign the application simultaneously (and you cannot sign on behalf of them).
Once an application is submitted (regardless of the method), you can anticipate a decision within 15 minutes to a few days.
After the policy is issued, expect to receive a paper version of the policy within 2-3 weeks.
If your sibling is approved for an immediate coverage plan, they will be fully insured upon making the first payment.
Sample Final Expense Prices
Final expense prices vary based on the insured’s exact age, gender, health, and the amount of coverage purchased. On average, a burial insurance policy will cost $50-$100 per month for a $10,000-$15,000 policy. Below is a table that outlines some sample prices.
You can also use the quoting tool on this page to see specific prices from multiple insurance companies in your state.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 15 years of experience
- Personal annual production that puts him in the top .001% out of all life insurance agents in the nation.
Anthony Martin is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 15 years of experience and has personally served over 10,000 clients with their life insurance needs. He frequently authors entrepreneurial and life insurance content for Forbes, Inc.com, Newsweek, Kiplinger, and Entreprenuer.com. Anthony has been consulted as an expert life insurance source for dozens of high-profile websites such as Forbes, Bankrate, Reuters, Fox Business, CNBC, Investopedia, Insurance.com, Yahoo Finance, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 19 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 19 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 14 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 14 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 15,000 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest Youtube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 19 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 19 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 14 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 14 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 15,000 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest Youtube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
