Does Your Spouse Have To Be Your Beneficiary For Life Insurance? 
Of course you can name someone other than your spouse as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy . In California you need your spouses signature in order to name anyone else . Naming a trust as beneficiary is a common estate planning tool . When a charity is the beneficiary the premiums themselves might be deductible as a contribution under IRS rules . Incidentally , naming a lender might not be a good idea . There are other ways to protect a lenders interest short of naming them as beneficiary . 