Start by checking whose name is actually on the contract, because a large share of the survivorship policies now serviced by Ameritas were not issued by Ameritas. Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. combined with Acacia Life in 2005 and with The Union Central Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati in 2006, and the in-force blocks came along with those combinations. Owners regularly call about an Ameritas policy holding a Union Central contract, or the reverse. The form number on your cover page settles it, and the servicing team needs that number before they can pull anything useful.
Once you know what you have, the question of whether a second-to-die policy can be sold has a straightforward answer and a complicated price. It can be reviewed, buyers do transact in joint-life paper, and the offers are consistently thinner than they would be on a single-life policy of identical size. A survivorship contract pays only after both insureds have died, so the buyer is underwriting two people and waiting for the later of two events. The healthier spouse, not the sicker one, sets the value.
Ameritas is domiciled in Lincoln, Nebraska, operates under a mutual holding company structure, and traces its origin to an 1887 Nebraska charter; New York business is written through a separate New York-licensed subsidiary. Below: how the two-life discount works, what the merger history means for your paperwork, the trustee questions that stall these files, and the circumstances in which the coverage is genuinely no longer doing a job. Pine Lake Life Solutions offers education and a free policy review. This is not legal, tax, or investment advice.
In This Article
- First, Confirm Which Company Issued the Contract
- The Joint-Life Discount, Explained With Numbers
- A First Death Resets Everything
- The Trustee’s Problem, Not the Insureds’ Problem
- Crummey Notices, Gift History, and What Buyers Do Not Care About
- The In-Force Illustration Request That Actually Works
- Contestability, State Waiting Periods, and Where the Rules Come From
- Has the Policy Outlived Its Purpose, or Not?
- Frequently Asked Questions
First, Confirm Which Company Issued the Contract
This sounds like housekeeping and it is not. Three things depend on getting the issuing entity right: which service center can produce an in-force illustration, which state’s original policy form governs the contract language, and whether the guarantees you think you have are actually in your version of the form.
Look at the cover page. It will show an issuing company name, a policy form number that usually includes a filing year, both insured names, the face amount, and the issue date. If it says Union Central, the contract was written in Ohio and later administered from Nebraska. If it says Acacia, the origin is a Washington, D.C. company. Ameritas services all of it, but the underlying form is what a buyer’s legal review reads.
If you cannot find the policy at all, the carrier can search by insured name and Social Security number, and state unclaimed property offices maintain databases for policies that were never claimed. Our page on what to do when your carrier merged into another company walks through the trace process, including how to escalate when the first representative says no record exists.
The Joint-Life Discount, Explained With Numbers
Consider a $1,000,000 survivorship policy on a couple aged 84 and 79. If the 84-year-old alone owned a single-life policy with a documented cardiac history, a buyer might project a life expectancy in the range of six to eight years and price accordingly. Add the 79-year-old spouse in good health, whose projected life expectancy might run twelve to fourteen years, and the contract’s expected maturity moves out to the longer of the two — plus the buyer now carries premiums for that entire additional stretch.
Two effects compound. The discounted present value of a payment twelve years away is far smaller than one seven years away at any realistic required return. And the premium outlay the buyer must fund grows every year the policy stays in force. On the same face amount, the joint policy can easily be worth a fraction of the single-life equivalent.
There is a third factor that is structural rather than mathematical: fewer funds bid on joint-life paper at all. Some institutional buyers exclude survivorship policies by mandate because reserving against a joint survival curve is harder. A thinner market means less competitive tension, which shows up directly in the offer. Expect the two underwriting firms to disagree, sometimes materially — see what it means when two life expectancy reports do not match.
A First Death Resets Everything
When one insured dies, a second-to-die policy stops being a joint contract in every way that matters to a valuation. There is now a single surviving insured, a single life expectancy, and the same full bidding pool that looks at any comparable single-life policy. Files that drew nothing while both spouses were living can draw real offers afterward.
Report the death to Ameritas promptly even though no benefit is payable. Many survivorship designs recalculate charges at the first death, and some contracts contain a split option or a change in the guaranteed premium schedule that only takes effect once the carrier has the death certificate on file. Owners who delay this notification for a year sometimes overpay for that year with no way to recover it.
It also changes the estate planning picture. The ILIT that held the policy was built for a two-death timeline. Once the first death occurs, the trustee should be looking at whether the trust’s purpose survives — our page on disposing of the policy when an ILIT is being terminated covers the sequence.
The Trustee’s Problem, Not the Insureds’ Problem
Where an irrevocable life insurance trust owns the policy, the trustee holds the pen. Insureds who signed the application do not have authority to sell, surrender, or lapse a policy the trust owns, and a buyer’s closing package will be rejected without proper trustee execution.
The trustee’s analysis has a specific shape. Does the trust instrument authorize disposition of trust property, including sale to a third party? Are there beneficiaries whose consent or notice is required? Can the trustee document that continuing to fund premiums out of trust assets, or continuing to ask the grantor for gifts, is worse for beneficiaries than converting the policy to cash the trust can invest or distribute?
That last question is a fiduciary duty question, and it cuts both ways. A trustee who lets a valuable policy lapse without evaluating alternatives has exposure; so does one who sells a well-performing guaranteed contract for a low bid. The defensible file contains an in-force illustration, a written statement of the trust’s purpose, and evidence the policy was shopped rather than shown to one buyer. See a trustee’s duty when a policy is underperforming.
Where the trustee is also a beneficiary — commonly an adult child — the conflict should be disclosed and, in most cases, addressed by counsel before anything is signed.
| Question | Where the Answer Lives | Why It Decides the Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Which company issued it | Policy cover page, form number | Determines governing form and which service center responds |
| Are both insureds living | Your own records; death certificate on file | A first death converts the valuation to single-life |
| Who owns the policy | Cover page owner field, trust instrument | A trustee, not the insured, signs a trust-owned sale |
| When does it lapse unfunded | In-force illustration, guaranteed assumptions | Sets the buyer’s future premium cost |
| Is a no-lapse guarantee intact | Carrier confirmation in writing | An intact guarantee can make keeping it the better choice |
| Is the contract past contestability | Issue date and any reinstatement date | Inside the window, the policy is effectively unsalable |
Crummey Notices, Gift History, and What Buyers Do Not Care About
ILIT premium funding worked through annual gifts that qualified for the gift tax annual exclusion because beneficiaries got Crummey withdrawal notices. In practice, the notices were sent for three years and then quietly stopped. This is nearly universal in twenty-five-year-old trusts.
A buyer purchasing a policy from the trust is not auditing your gift tax compliance, and missing notices are not a closing obstacle. But the issue does not disappear either. If the trust is going to be wound down after the policy is disposed of, the trustee has to account to beneficiaries, and a documented contribution history makes that accounting far cleaner. Ameritas can produce a complete premium payment history on request; combine it with the trust’s bank records and cancelled checks, then hand the package to your estate attorney rather than to a buyer.
The In-Force Illustration Request That Actually Works
Ask Ameritas in writing for three projections on the same contract: values at current charges and current crediting; values at guaranteed maximum charges and the guaranteed minimum crediting rate; and the minimum annual premium required to keep the policy in force to the later insured’s age 100. Also ask for the exact policy year in which the contract lapses if no further premium is paid.
That third run is what a buyer models, because it is the buyer’s cost of ownership. On an older universal-chassis survivorship policy, the guaranteed-assumption run frequently shows a lapse a decade or more before the current-assumption run does, and the gap between them is the risk you are carrying. If the contract has a no-lapse guarantee, ask specifically whether it is still intact and what would forfeit it, since a late or short premium can permanently void the guarantee on many designs.
Turnaround for older joint contracts commonly runs two to four weeks. Request it early; it is the gating document for everything else.
Contestability, State Waiting Periods, and Where the Rules Come From
A policy inside its contestability period — generally two years from issue, and a fresh two years from any reinstatement — cannot practically be sold, because the carrier retains the right to rescind for material misrepresentation. On a survivorship contract that right can attach to either insured’s application answers.
Separately, state law imposes its own waiting period before a policy may be transferred, commonly two years from issue, with statutory exceptions in most states for terminal illness, chronic illness, divorce, retirement, or disability. Nebraska regulates viatical and life settlement transactions through the Nebraska Department of Insurance under the insurance provisions of Chapter 44 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes, but Nebraska’s rules govern only because Ameritas is domiciled there — the law that actually applies to your transaction is the law of the state where the policy owner resides or where the owning trust is sited. Verify that with your own counsel, not with a buyer.
Every state also provides a rescission window after closing, during which a seller may unwind and return the proceeds. Know its length in your state before signing.
Has the Policy Outlived Its Purpose, or Not?
Survivorship coverage is bought to solve one of a short list of problems. Work through the list honestly.
Federal estate tax liquidity. The federal estate and gift tax exclusion stands at $15 million per individual for 2026 under the 2025 tax law, indexed thereafter, which is roughly $30 million for a couple with portability elected. A policy bought in 2001, when the exclusion was $675,000, may be solving a problem that no longer exists.
State death taxes. Nebraska, where Ameritas is domiciled, has no estate tax but does levy a county-administered inheritance tax on transfers to most beneficiaries, with rates and exemptions that were reduced by legislation taking effect in 2023. If you live in a decoupled estate tax state such as Oregon, Massachusetts, or Illinois, the state threshold may still bind even where the federal one does not.
Business succession. If the buy-sell agreement was terminated or the business was sold, the funding purpose is gone.
Keep the policy when a special-needs beneficiary depends on the benefit, when a no-lapse guarantee is intact at a premium you can comfortably carry, when either insured is inside contestability, or when the face amount is below roughly $100,000 — a level at which the secondary market generally does not bid, and on joint-life paper the practical floor sits higher still. Related Ameritas contracts are covered on our Ameritas guaranteed universal life and Ameritas whole life pages.
For a read on your own contract, send the policy cover page for a free review or call (305) 209-7183. If there is no market for it, you will hear that directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
My policy says Union Central, not Ameritas. Is it the same thing?
For servicing purposes, yes. Union Central Life combined with Ameritas in 2006 and the in-force block is administered by Ameritas today. The original policy form still governs your contract terms, so give the service representative the form number from the cover page rather than only the company name when you request documents.
Why is the offer on our joint policy so much lower than on a single-life policy?
Because nothing is paid until both insureds have died, so the buyer’s expected payout date is driven by whichever spouse is healthier, and premiums must be funded for that entire period. Fewer institutional buyers bid on joint-life contracts at all, which removes competitive pressure and lowers offers a second time.
One spouse has passed away. Should we get the policy re-reviewed?
Yes. After a first death the contract prices as a single-life policy on the survivor, with one life expectancy instead of two and the full bidding market available. Report the death to the carrier first, since many survivorship designs restructure charges once the death certificate is on file.
Our ILIT owns the policy. Can my husband and I just sell it?
No. The trustee holds legal title and must execute any disposition, subject to the trust instrument and to fiduciary duty owed to the beneficiaries. Insured spouses who happen to be the grantors have no independent authority. Have your attorney review whether the trust document permits a sale before you spend time on valuation.
What exactly should I ask Ameritas to send?
An in-force illustration at current charges, a second at guaranteed maximum charges, the minimum premium to carry the policy to the later insured’s age 100, the year the policy lapses with no further premium, the complete premium payment history, and written confirmation of whether any no-lapse guarantee remains intact.
Is there a minimum size for a survivorship policy to be worth reviewing?
The secondary market generally does not bid below about $100,000 of death benefit, and on joint-life contracts the practical floor sits higher because the underwriting cost is doubled. Small survivorship policies are usually better addressed through reduced paid-up options or simply keeping the coverage if it is affordable.
Does a life settlement require both insureds to sign?
Both insureds generally must sign HIPAA authorizations and consent to medical record release, because both are underwritten. The seller’s signature is the owner’s, which is the trustee where a trust holds the policy. Requirements vary by state and by buyer, so confirm the exact package before you begin gathering records.
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Related Reading
- Can I Sell A Survivorship Life Policy
- Carrier Merged Who Owns Policy
- Two Le Reports Differ
- Trustee Duty Underperforming Policy
- Ilit Termination Policy Disposition
- What Is An In Force Illustration
- Can I Sell A Policy Owned By A Trust
- Sell My Ameritas Guaranteed Universal Policy
- Sell My Ameritas 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.