When Is Life Insurance Part Of An Estate? 
There are a few reasons why life insurance proceeds would become part of the estate . The first reason was the estate was the beneficiary . This is not wise unless a trust has been established . This will tie up the life proceeds in probate and can make them taxable when they should be income tax free . The second common reason is the beneficiaries preceded the insured in death and there was no living contingent beneficiary . The third most common reason is an older life policy that the beneficiary has not been kept up to date . This is an example of why consumers need life brokers to stay in touch and keep these policies up to date for the sake of the beneficiaries . 