What Is A Contingent For Life Insurance? 
A contingent in life insurance is a back up beneficiary or a back up policy owner . The policy owner has the option of naming a primary beneficiary -LRB- or beneficiaries -RRB- and may also wish to have contingent beneficiaries . Tertiary beneficiaries are the back up to the back up . While it may seem like overkill to have such layers , bear in mind that many contracts will remain unchanged for decades , despite best efforts for life insurance professionals to engage clients in policy reviews every three years . In that time , policy owners desires may have changed about who they want to receive proceeds , divorces happen , beneficiaries predecease insureds , etc. . 