If you own a Foresters whole life contract and you are weighing whether it can be sold, start with an unusual fact about the company behind it. Foresters Financial is a trade name of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society founded in 1874 and based at 789 Don Mills Road in Toronto, Ontario. It is not a stock insurer and not a mutual insurer. That distinction changes the vocabulary printed on your paperwork, how dividends are described, and whether state guaranty association protection applies to your coverage.
This page explains what a Foresters whole life certificate is actually worth across the exits available to you, how a participating certificate’s dividends affect that comparison, and what Foresters requires before ownership can change hands. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with or endorsed by Foresters, and does not purchase policies. The information here is educational.
In This Article
- Who Actually Holds Your Foresters Contract Today
- Why Your Paperwork Says Certificate Instead of Policy
- Surrender Value, Reduced Paid-Up, and a Settlement Offer
- How Dividends Change the Math on a Participating Certificate
- What Foresters Requires to Change Ownership
- What the 2025 Financial Strength Ratings Say
- When Keeping the Certificate Is the Better Answer
- Frequently Asked Questions
Who Actually Holds Your Foresters Contract Today
Between 2019 and 2020 Foresters sold off most of what was not core life insurance, and the result is that two different companies now answer to the Foresters name in policyholder mail. In April 2019 Macquarie Group acquired roughly $12.3 billion in assets tied to the First Investors mutual fund business. In May 2019 Fiera Capital bought Foresters Asset Management in Canada, and the United States broker-dealer went to Cetera Financial Group.
The transaction that matters most to life insurance owners came on October 17, 2019, when Foresters agreed to sell Foresters Financial Holding Company, Inc. and its subsidiary Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company, known as FLIAC, to Nassau Financial Group. FLIAC had approximately 112,000 policyholders and about $2.5 billion in assets at announcement. Nassau completed the acquisition on July 1, 2020.
Pull out your contract and read the issuing company line. If it names The Independent Order of Foresters, your certificate stayed with Foresters. If it names Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company, your servicing carrier is now part of Nassau, and every request below goes to a different address.
Why Your Paperwork Says Certificate Instead of Policy
Fraternal benefit societies issue membership certificates rather than insurance policies, and Foresters follows that convention throughout its service library. The forms listed in the Foresters United States customer care section are titled Certificate Change Form, Certificate Loan Request Form, Certificate Partial Surrender Request Form and Certificate Surrender Request Form. Coverage is underwritten by The Independent Order of Foresters, and membership carries fraternal benefits alongside the insurance.
One consequence deserves attention before you make any decision. Fraternal benefit society certificates are generally excluded from coverage by state life and health insurance guaranty associations, and several states require the certificate itself to carry a notice saying so. A commercial insurer’s policyholders sit inside that safety net; a fraternal member typically does not. This says nothing about the finances of any particular society, but it is a structural difference worth understanding. Confirm how your state treats fraternal certificates with your state insurance department.
Surrender Value, Reduced Paid-Up, and a Settlement Offer
Whole life is the one policy type where you are never comparing a settlement against zero. A whole life certificate accumulates guaranteed cash value on a schedule printed in the contract, so you already hold a floor. The honest question is which exit produces the most value for your situation.
Surrendering converts the certificate to its cash surrender value and ends the coverage. A reduced paid-up nonforfeiture election stops premiums permanently and keeps a smaller death benefit in force with nothing further to pay. Extended term coverage keeps the full face amount for a defined period and then ends.
A life settlement is a further path in which a licensed institutional buyer purchases the contract for more than the surrender value but less than the death benefit. Whether that comparison favors a sale depends on age, health, premium load and the guaranteed cash value already built up. No outcome is guaranteed, and many whole life owners are better served by one of the carrier’s own options.
| Exit option | Premiums after | Death benefit after | What you receive now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep the certificate | Continue | Full face amount | Nothing now |
| Surrender for cash | None | None | Cash surrender value |
| Reduced paid-up | None | Smaller, permanent | Nothing now |
| Extended term | None | Full face, limited years | Nothing now |
| Life settlement | Buyer pays | Transfers to buyer | Negotiated purchase price |
| Lapse | None | None | Nothing |
How Dividends Change the Math on a Participating Certificate
Not every Foresters whole life certificate is participating. Advantage Plus II is the company’s participating whole life product, and Foresters states plainly that while dividends are expected they are not guaranteed, and that the dividend scale is not guaranteed and will change a number of times over the life of an in-force certificate. Dividends on a participating certificate may be used to purchase paid-up additional insurance, left on deposit to accumulate with interest, applied to reduce premiums, or taken in cash.
That choice changes your numbers directly. Years of dividends directed into paid-up additions raise both the death benefit and the cash value, which lifts the surrender figure a settlement offer must beat. Dividends taken in cash leave the base contract untouched. At the other end of the lineup, PlanRight is a final expense whole life product with face amounts from $5,000 to $35,000, small enough that most institutional buyers will not price it at all. Before comparing anything, ask Foresters which dividend option your certificate has been using.
What Foresters Requires to Change Ownership
Any life settlement ends in a change of ownership, so the carrier’s own transfer rules set the practical ceiling on what is possible. Foresters publishes a Transfer of Ownership Form in fillable format within its United States customer care forms library. The form distinguishes between the current owner categories of certificate owner, absolute assignee and annuitant, and identifies the new owner in a separate section.
Foresters also draws the standard line between the two kinds of assignment. An absolute assignment transfers the ownership rights in the certificate to a third party, giving that party control over coverage decisions and beneficiary designations. A collateral assignment is conditional and appoints a lender as beneficiary only to secure a loan. A settlement uses the first type, not the second.
Foresters United States customer service can be reached at 800-828-1540, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, or by email at service@foresters.com. Ask for the current version of the transfer form and for written confirmation of any signature, witness or notarization requirements before you sign anything.
What the 2025 Financial Strength Ratings Say
Institutional buyers price a contract partly on the strength of the carrier that has to pay the claim decades from now, so ratings belong in the analysis. Foresters reports an AM Best financial strength rating of A (Excellent) with a stable outlook, affirmed on October 10, 2025, a level the organization states it has held for 25 consecutive years. DBRS Morningstar confirmed an A financial strength rating on July 3, 2025.
Foresters also reports total assets of $14.3 billion, surplus of $1.7 billion, and a risk-based capital ratio of 623 percent, above the minimum guidelines set through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Ratings are opinions about claims-paying ability and they can move. Confirm the current rating with AM Best or Foresters directly.
When Keeping the Certificate Is the Better Answer
A whole life certificate that is fully paid up, or nearly so, is often worth keeping. The premium burden that pushes people toward an exit has already ended, the death benefit is guaranteed, and the cash value continues to build. The same is usually true of a small final expense certificate bought specifically to cover funeral costs.
Selling tends to be worth investigating when the premium has become genuinely unaffordable, when the original reason for the coverage no longer exists, or when the certificate is heading toward a lapse that would return nothing at all. Before any of that, ask Foresters what your current surrender value is, what a reduced paid-up election would leave in force, and whether a certificate loan or a change in the dividend option would solve the cash flow problem on its own.
Pine Lake Life Solutions offers a free, no-obligation policy review to help you understand these options. Pine Lake does not buy policies, does not give legal, tax or investment advice, and cannot guarantee that any contract will qualify for a settlement offer or produce a particular amount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my Foresters whole life certificate still with Foresters, or with Nassau?
It depends on which company issued it. Coverage issued by The Independent Order of Foresters remained with Foresters. Coverage issued by Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company, or FLIAC, moved to Nassau Financial Group when that acquisition completed on July 1, 2020. The issuing company is printed on the face page of your contract, and Foresters customer service at 800-828-1540 can confirm it.
Does a Foresters whole life certificate have to be surrendered to get any money out of it?
No, surrender is only one option among several. A certificate loan, a partial surrender, a reduced paid-up election, or a life settlement can each produce a different result. Which one makes sense depends on your age, health, the guaranteed cash value already built up, and whether you still need the death benefit. Ask Foresters for current figures on each before deciding.
Are Foresters certificates covered by my state guaranty association?
Generally not. Fraternal benefit society certificates are typically excluded from state life and health insurance guaranty association coverage, and some states require the certificate to display a notice saying so. This is a structural feature of fraternal organizations rather than a comment on any particular society’s finances. Your state insurance department can tell you exactly how your state treats fraternal certificates.
Do dividends make a Foresters whole life certificate more or less likely to be sellable?
Dividends raise the bar rather than lower it. Years of dividends applied as paid-up additions increase both the guaranteed cash value and the death benefit, which means a settlement offer has to exceed a larger surrender figure to be the better choice. Foresters states that dividends and the dividend scale are not guaranteed and will change over time.
Does Pine Lake buy Foresters policies?
No. Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase life insurance policies and has no affiliation with Foresters or The Independent Order of Foresters. Pine Lake provides education and a free, no-obligation policy review so you can understand what you own and what your options are. Nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice, and eligibility for any option varies.
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- Sell My Massmutual 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.