What Happens To Annuities On Death? 
What happens to an annuity upon death depends on the type of annuity you have and the contractual stipulations . If you have an annuity that was set up to pay out for the rest of your life , there may be not benefit paid upon your death . Some Life Annuities will return what was paid in or pay for a guaranteed number of years . A Joint with Last Survivor Annuity will continue payments to the spouse . For annuities that will are set up to pay a fixed number of years , annuity payments will continue to the beneficiaries just as if they did before . If the annuity was not yet annuitized , the proceeds must be received by the beneficiaries within 5 years . Contact your agent or the company through which your annuity was secured to understand the specifics about your particular contract . 