Does Life Insurance Go Into An Estate? 
It would be included in the estate when all named beneficiaries predecease the insured -LRB- and assuming it 's not being owned by a life insurance trust -RRB- . The proceeds from the policy are income-tax free . If you name your spouse the beneficiary to the policy , the monies would not be included in the calculation of the estate . If the beneficiary is someone else , it would be included in the calculation of the estate for tax purposes . A trust , such as an irrevocable life insurance trust -LRB- ILIT -RRB- , can allow the proceeds to be excluded from the taxable estate because you would no longer be the owner of the policy . The trust would be the owner and controls how the proceeds are distributed . Please feel free to contact me for help and if you have any other questions . Thanks very much . 