Can You Sell a Allstate Final Expense / Burial Policy? (2026)

Who holds your policy now: Everlake, Wilton Re, or American Heritage Life

The Allstate Corporation is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. In 2021 it exited the individual life and annuity business through two separate transactions, and which one applies to you depends on where the policy was issued and how.

• Allstate Life Insurance Company (NAIC company code 60186), an Illinois-domiciled insurer, was sold to entities managed by Blackstone. Allstate announced the closing on November 2, 2021, reporting total proceeds of $4 billion, inclusive of Blackstone’s approximately $2.8 billion purchase price and increases in statutory surplus. On November 8, 2021 the company was renamed Everlake Life Insurance Company, and Allstate Assurance Company became Everlake Assurance Company. Everlake administers the acquired block in run-off and does not sell new policies to the public. Its domiciliary regulator remains the Illinois Department of Insurance.
• Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York was sold separately to Wilton Re and renamed Wilton Reassurance Life Company of New York, supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
• American Heritage Life Insurance Company, domiciled in Florida and headquartered in Jacksonville, remains an Allstate company and writes the worksite and group business marketed as Allstate Benefits. Small-face group whole life sold at an employer typically sits here.

Your coverage did not change. Premiums, face amount, beneficiaries and contract terms carry over intact when a block transfers. What changed is the name on the envelope, the service phone number and the address for written requests. This matters enormously at claim time, because families searching for “Allstate life insurance” may not connect the policy to Everlake. If you cannot locate a contract at all, how to find out if a policy still exists covers the NAIC policy locator and state unclaimed property databases.

Write down, today, the current servicing company name, the policy number and the service address, and keep it with your other estate papers. Then ask for a verification of coverage letter confirming the policy is in force, the current face amount and the named beneficiary.

What a burial policy is and how it is underwritten

Final expense insurance is small-face whole life sold to cover funeral costs, cremation, a headstone, outstanding medical bills and the administrative expenses of dying. Its distinguishing feature is not the coverage but the underwriting.

Simplified issue policies ask a short list of health questions, run a prescription database check, and issue without a medical exam. Guaranteed issue policies ask nothing at all and accept everyone within an age band, usually 50 to 85. Both trade underwriting for price: premium per thousand of coverage is substantially higher than on a fully underwritten policy, which is the cost of accepting applicants nobody else would take.

Because carriers cannot screen out the sickest applicants, they protect themselves with a waiting period instead. On a graded or modified benefit contract, death from natural causes during the first two or three years pays a return of premiums with interest, or a stepped percentage of the face amount, rather than the full benefit. Accidental death usually pays in full from day one.

This is the single most important provision to read, and most owners have never read it. If the insured is inside that window, the coverage actually in force right now is a fraction of the printed face amount. Find the provision, note the date the graded period ends, and write it on the front of the folder.

The size floor, explained honestly

A provider considering a policy pays for an independent life expectancy report — sometimes two, from separate underwriting firms — at a cost running into four figures each. It pays for medical record retrieval from every treating physician. It pays legal and escrow costs at closing. Then it carries the premium obligation and servicing cost for as long as the insured lives.

None of those costs scale down with the face amount. On a $1.5 million policy they are immaterial. On a $12,000 policy they exceed anything a rational buyer could pay. That is why providers publish minimums and why a competent broker will tell you inside one phone call that a burial policy is not a candidate. The thresholds are set out in minimum policy size for a life settlement, and the category is addressed directly in can I sell a final expense policy.

Treat any solicitation to buy a small burial policy as a warning. The economics do not support a legitimate offer, and the information such an approach requests — a signed HIPAA authorization, a Social Security number, a date of birth, physician names — is exactly what an identity thief wants. Never provide those to an unsolicited caller or a mailer. The patterns to watch for are catalogued in life settlement scams and red flags.

Pre-need funeral contracts and why they behave differently

Some small policies are not ordinary insurance at all. A pre-need funeral contract is life insurance purchased through a funeral home to fund a specific goods-and-services agreement, and it is normally assigned to that funeral home, frequently on an irrevocable basis. The proceeds are directed to the provider rather than to a family beneficiary, and some designs grow the benefit by a stated factor intended to track the cost of the selected services.

An irrevocably assigned pre-need contract cannot be sold and often cannot be surrendered by the family either, because the household no longer owns the benefit. Pre-need arrangements are separately regulated in most states, commonly by both the insurance department and the board that licenses funeral directors, and they carry protections ordinary policies do not — including rules covering what happens if the funeral home closes or changes hands.

Identify one by looking for a funeral home named as assignee or beneficiary, a goods-and-services statement attached to the contract, and an irrevocability clause. If the assignment was made to qualify for Medicaid, the irrevocability was almost certainly deliberate, and undoing it can create an eligibility problem. That question belongs with an elder law attorney, not with anyone offering to buy the policy.

What produces real value at this size

Working through this list will do more for most readers than any conversation about selling.

• Find the accelerated death benefit rider. Small whole life contracts frequently carry a terminal illness rider at no extra premium, and some add a chronic illness rider. On a qualifying diagnosis the carrier advances part of the death benefit directly, with no third party involved and no medical records leaving your control. Terminal riders generally require physician certification of a life expectancy under 12 or 24 months. See the accelerated death benefit rider.
• Ask for the cash surrender value in writing. Burial policies accumulate slowly, but a contract in force twenty years may hold a few thousand dollars.
• Use reduced paid-up if premiums are the problem. Applying the cash value as a single premium buys a smaller policy that never requires another payment, which is far better than lapsing and losing everything. See reduced paid-up insurance.
• Do not replace a graded policy casually. A new simplified-issue contract restarts the waiting period, so an insured in poor health could spend two or three years covered only for a return of premium. Compare the benefit payable today, not the monthly cost.
• Inventory the whole household. A burial policy is often not the only coverage. A larger permanent policy elsewhere, including one from a former employer or on a spouse who has already died, may be the contract with real options. A larger Allstate-era permanent contract is discussed in selling an Allstate whole life policy.

Finally, keep the coverage in mind for what it does well. At older ages the death benefit relative to remaining premiums on a burial policy is frequently a good deal, and it performs exactly the job it was bought for.

The narrow exception worth knowing

One circumstance changes the calculation: a terminal diagnosis with a short, physician-certified life expectancy. In that situation the discount a buyer applies shrinks sharply, and a small number of specialist firms will consider face amounts below the ordinary settlement threshold. Even so, most will not go under roughly $50,000 to $100,000, and the accelerated death benefit rider already on the policy is usually faster, cheaper and cleaner than any transaction with an outside party.

The other exception is simple misidentification. If the cover page turns out to show a face amount far larger than the family assumed, or if the small policy is one of several contracts, the analysis is different. Spending an afternoon assembling every policy in the house — including old employer coverage, fraternal or association certificates, and any contract on a deceased spouse that was never claimed — is time better spent than shopping a $10,000 burial policy.

Pine Lake Life Solutions reviews policies of any size and will say plainly when a sale is not realistic. It does not purchase policies and is not licensed in every state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do my Allstate life statements now say Everlake?

Because Allstate sold the business. Allstate Life Insurance Company was acquired by Blackstone-managed entities in a transaction Allstate announced closing on November 2, 2021, with total proceeds of $4 billion, and the company was renamed Everlake Life Insurance Company on November 8, 2021. Your premiums, face amount, beneficiaries and contract terms are unchanged. Only the servicing name, phone number and correspondence address moved.

Can a $10,000 burial policy be sold?

Realistically no. The fixed costs of a settlement transaction, including independent life expectancy reports, medical record retrieval, legal review, escrow and years of premium servicing, exceed anything a buyer could pay for a policy that size. Providers generally set minimums at $100,000 or above. Anyone soliciting the purchase of a small burial policy should be treated with real suspicion rather than as an opportunity.

How do I know whether my policy has a graded death benefit?

Look for a provision headed graded, modified, or limited death benefit. It states that death from natural causes during an initial period, commonly two or three years from issue, pays a return of premium with interest or a stepped percentage of the face amount rather than the full benefit, while accidental death pays in full immediately. Note the date that period ends and keep it with the policy.

My policy was bought through a funeral home. Does that change anything?

Substantially. A pre-need contract is usually assigned to the funeral home, often irrevocably, so the household no longer controls the proceeds and the policy cannot be sold or in many cases surrendered. Pre-need arrangements are separately regulated, frequently by both the insurance department and the state funeral board. If the assignment was made for Medicaid purposes, changing it can jeopardize eligibility.

What should I do if I cannot afford the premium anymore?

Ask the servicing company in writing for the current cash surrender value and for illustrations of both nonforfeiture options. Reduced paid-up insurance applies the cash value as a single premium to buy a smaller policy requiring no further payments. Extended term insurance keeps the full face amount for a limited number of years. Either preserves value, while simply stopping payment forfeits it entirely.

How do I make sure my family can find this policy later?

Write down the current servicing company name, the policy number and the service address, and keep that note with your will and other estate papers rather than only with the policy. Then request a verification of coverage letter confirming the policy is in force, the current face amount and the named beneficiary. Families searching under the original carrier’s name routinely fail to locate transferred blocks.

Related Reading

• Can I Sell A Final Expense Policy
• Minimum Policy Size For A Life Settlement
• What Is An Accelerated Death Benefit Rider
• What Is Reduced Paid Up Insurance
• How To Find Out If A Policy Still Exists
• What Is Verification Of Coverage
• Life Settlement Scams Red Flags
• Sell My Allstate Whole Life Policy

Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase life insurance policies and does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Information provided is for educational purposes only. Eligibility for any option, including life settlements, is not guaranteed and depends on individual circumstances, policy terms, underwriting, and market conditions. Consult independent legal, tax, or financial professionals before making decisions regarding a life insurance policy.