Jones could continue to maintain the policy and collect the proceeds at Smith’s death. In the same manner, it is also possible for a creditor to maintain insurance on a debtor’s life even though the debt has been paid off. The extent of the insurable interest depends on a number of factors. First, and perhaps most important, it is assumed that an individual has an unlimited insurable interest in his or her own life. This is based on the principle that one should be able to dispose of one’s human life value with the same freedom that one can exercise in disposing of other property after death. For example, if a man can find a company that will sell him $1 million worth of life insurance, and if he can pay the premiums on this amount, the contract would be legitimate, even though his death would not cause a financial loss to anyone. His insurable interest in his own life is without limit. The insured has the right to designate anyone he so desires as the beneficiary of his life insurance, and it is not required that the beneficiary have an insurable interest in the life of the insured. The beneficiary has a legal claim to a fixed sum of money on the occurrence of the insured’s death and, as a consequence, need not prove that he sustained a financial loss because of the death. A third-party applicant for the insurance, who is to be the beneficiary, however, must possess an insurable interest, and the amount of the insurance must bear a relationship to the extent of the interest. For example, in most jurisdictions, the insurance procured by a creditor on the life of a debtor must not be disproportionate to the amount of the debt as it existed at the time the policy was issued or as it was reasonably expected to be thereafter. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent the use of a debt as a cloak for a wagering transaction.
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