What Happens To Your Annuities When You Die? 
If you have a lifetime income annuity , the payments will stop when you die , unless you have some other guarantees in your contract -LRB- such as the guarantee to at least get your premium back , or receive payments for x number of years -RRB- . This type of annuity is guaranteed to provide a set income stream for life , no matter how long you live . So you may end up getting a slightly reduced interest rate if you opt for those secondary guarantees . If you have an annuity that is set up to pay out for a certain number of years , and you died before those years were up , the remainder of the annuity will be paid out to the beneficiary you named on the contract . 