What Does It Mean To Be The Beneficiary Of A Life Insurance Policy? 
To be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy means that you would receive the life insurance proceeds if the insured person passed away . Primary beneficiaries are the person or persons who are `` first in line '' for the death benefit . The policy owner picks the beneficiaries , and if there are more than one , the policy owner determines what percent goes to each person . If there are two primary beneficiaries and one dies before the insured person dies , the other primary beneficiary gets the entire death benefit . Contingent beneficiaries can be named in case none of the primary beneficiaries are longer alive when the insured person passes . 