Yes — a Genworth survivorship (second-to-die) policy can be sold in a life settlement when the contract and both insureds qualify; the policy belongs to its owner as transferable property, and Genworth’s permission is not required. The carrier issues the in-force illustration a buyer needs and records the ownership change after closing. That is the extent of its role.
Genworth Financial, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, became a public company through a 2004 IPO that separated it from General Electric’s insurance operations. It stopped selling new traditional life insurance and fixed annuity products in 2016, and its remaining business centers on long-term care insurance and its majority-owned mortgage insurance company, Enact. Practically, that means a Genworth second-to-die contract is almost certainly part of an in-force block being serviced rather than a current product on a shelf. Confirm the servicing entity — Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company and Genworth Life Insurance Company are distinct legal entities — with the number on your statement as of 2026.
A block in runoff does not change your right to sell, and it does not by itself change what a buyer will pay. What follows explains what actually drives the number on a joint-life contract, why a first death matters so much, and the situations where keeping or surrendering the policy is the better call. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with Genworth Financial. Nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice.
In This Article
- Owning a Policy From a Company That No Longer Sells Life Insurance
- The Long-Term Care Connection Many Genworth Households Face
- Why Two Insureds Means a Lower Percentage of Face
- When Second-to-Die Coverage Stops Earning Its Keep
- After the First Death, Get the Policy Re-Reviewed
- Trust-Owned Contracts and Contestability
- Getting a Free Review of Your Policy
- Frequently Asked Questions
Owning a Policy From a Company That No Longer Sells Life Insurance
Runoff unsettles policyholders, so it is worth separating what changes from what does not. Your contract terms do not change because a company stops writing new business. The guaranteed provisions in the policy remain contractual obligations, and state guaranty associations provide a backstop within statutory limits if an insurer becomes insolvent — those limits vary by state and by benefit type, so confirm your state’s rules with the department of insurance rather than assuming.
What does change is the service experience. There is often no agent attached to the policy anymore, illustrations come from a call center, and turnaround can be slower than at a carrier actively courting new business. Build that into your timeline: request the in-force illustration early, get every value confirmed in writing, and follow up in writing.
Non-guaranteed elements are the area to watch. On universal-chassis contracts, insurers may adjust cost of insurance charges within contractual limits, and several carriers across the industry have done so on older blocks. If your survivorship policy is on a UL chassis, ask specifically whether any cost of insurance increase has been implemented or announced on your product series. See how cost of insurance works and what to do about universal life cost increases.
The Long-Term Care Connection Many Genworth Households Face
Genworth is one of the largest long-term care insurers in the country, and a meaningful number of households hold both a Genworth LTC policy and Genworth life coverage. LTC premium increases on older blocks have been substantial across the industry, and carriers commonly offer policyholders a menu of options in response: pay the higher premium, reduce the daily benefit or benefit period, drop inflation protection, or accept a paid-up benefit.
That creates a real planning question. If keeping the LTC policy in force is the priority — and for many families it is, because the LTC coverage is far harder to replace than the life coverage — then converting an unneeded second-to-die policy into cash can be the mechanism that funds the higher LTC premium. That is a legitimate, concrete use for settlement proceeds, and it is a very different analysis from selling to fund discretionary spending.
Work the numbers with your own advisors before acting. Related reading: when long-term care coverage falls through and settlement versus a long-term care rider.
Why Two Insureds Means a Lower Percentage of Face
The defining feature of second-to-die coverage is that the first death pays nothing. A buyer must therefore project when both insureds will have died, which means commissioning life expectancy reports on each and blending them into a joint-and-last-survivor curve.
Because that curve extends past either individual expectancy, the buyer funds premiums for longer and discounts the eventual benefit from further out. The offer falls accordingly. Published payout ranges for life settlements generally reflect single-life experience; on a survivorship contract, expect the low end of any range you have read.
Bidder depth compounds it. A share of institutional funders decline joint-mortality cases entirely, so fewer buyers compete. That argues for shopping the case rather than accepting the first quote, and for understanding what any intermediary is paid. See how buyers price a policy and provider versus broker.
| Concern about a runoff block | What is actually true | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The company stopped selling life insurance | Contract obligations continue unchanged | Keep paying required premiums; request values in writing |
| No agent services my policy | Illustrations come from the service center | Request in writing and allow extra turnaround time |
| Charges could go up | Non-guaranteed elements may change within contract limits | Ask whether any cost of insurance change applies to your series |
| What if the insurer fails | State guaranty associations provide limited protection | Confirm your state’s limits with the insurance department |
| Runoff means the policy is worthless | Not so; value depends on ages, health, premiums and face amount | Get a free review before surrendering |
When Second-to-Die Coverage Stops Earning Its Keep
These policies were sold against a need arising at the second death. Common ways that need disappears: federal estate tax exemption levels moved and the estate is no longer taxable (verify current thresholds with a tax advisor as of 2026, and check state estate or inheritance taxes, which several states impose at much lower levels); the ILIT now exists only to administer a policy whose purpose expired; a family business succession or buy-sell arrangement has already been completed; or the children the policy was meant to protect are financially independent. Add to that list the case where premiums have simply outrun a fixed retirement income.
None of these means sell automatically. They mean the policy has become a bill without a job, and the alternatives deserve to be priced against each other honestly — including doing nothing.
After the First Death, Get the Policy Re-Reviewed
When one insured dies, the joint curve collapses to a single life on the survivor. The buyer’s model shortens, the premium burden falls, and the market value of the identical face amount often improves markedly — particularly when the survivor is elderly or in declining health.
Report the death to the servicing entity, request an updated in-force illustration, and ask whether the contract contains a policy split option or a provision that responds to changes in estate tax law; some second-to-die policies from the 1990s and 2000s do. Then compare selling, surrendering and keeping. Do not lapse the policy on the assumption that a survivorship contract which paid nothing at the first death has no value — that is frequently the moment it is worth the most. Read the first-death guide.
Trust-Owned Contracts and Contestability
Where an irrevocable life insurance trust owns the policy, the trustee is the seller: the trustee signs, the trust receives the proceeds, and distribution follows the trust document. A prudent trustee documents the carrying cost, the surrender value in writing, the offers obtained, and the reasoning behind the choice, and confirms whether the trust requires beneficiary notice, consent or court approval. Expect requests for the trust agreement and amendments, trustee authority, the trust EIN, and the Crummey notice history that supported annual-exclusion treatment of premium gifts.
Separately, the contract must be beyond its two-year contestability period, measured from issue or from any reinstatement, since buyers will not accept rescission risk. And size still governs: institutional buyers rarely engage below a $100,000 death benefit, and small final-expense-scale policies almost never attract offers from any carrier. Where a policy does qualify, GAO research (GAO-10-775) found sellers typically received about 10% to 35% of face value, roughly four to eight times cash surrender value on average, with survivorship cases at the low end. More: selling an ILIT-owned policy.
Getting a Free Review of Your Policy
The screening step is deliberately simple. Send the policy cover page — issuing entity, policy number, face amount, issue date and both insureds — and a specialist can tell you whether the contract is a realistic candidate for the secondary market. No cost, no obligation, and a straight “not marketable” answer is an acceptable and useful outcome.
If the case advances, expect 60 to 120 days, with joint-life files toward the longer end because two sets of medical records and life expectancy reports are needed and runoff service centers can be slower to produce illustrations. Get offers in writing, ask what any intermediary earns, and require an independent escrow agent to hold the funds until the carrier records the ownership change. Most states then provide a rescission window.
For a free policy review, send the cover page or call Pine Lake Life Solutions at (305) 209-7183. Pine Lake is not affiliated with Genworth. If you also hold a Genworth universal life contract, see the Genworth universal life guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Genworth stopped selling life insurance. Can I still sell my policy?
Yes. A carrier’s decision to stop writing new business does not affect your ownership rights or the contract’s terms. The policy is transferable property under Grigsby v. Russell, and the servicing entity simply records the ownership change after closing. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with Genworth.
Which Genworth entity issued my policy?
Genworth has issued life contracts through more than one legal entity, including Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company and Genworth Life Insurance Company. The correct entity is named on your policy and on your statements, and illustrations must be requested from it. Confirm by calling the number on your current statement as of 2026.
Can settlement proceeds be used to keep a long-term care policy in force?
That is a common use. When LTC premiums rise, families sometimes choose to keep the harder-to-replace LTC coverage and convert an unneeded second-to-die life policy into cash to fund it. Run the numbers with your own advisors, since the tradeoff depends on both policies’ terms.
Why do survivorship policies get lower offers?
The benefit is paid only after both insureds die, so buyers model a joint-and-last-survivor curve, fund premiums over a longer period, and discount the payout from further in the future. Fewer institutional buyers underwrite joint mortality, so competition is thinner too.
Does the first death change what the policy is worth?
Usually yes, and often significantly. Once one insured dies the contract behaves like a single-life policy on the survivor, which is easier to underwrite and closer to payout. Request an updated in-force illustration before deciding to surrender or lapse.
What if cost of insurance charges on my universal life chassis increased?
Increases within contractual limits raise the premium needed to keep the policy in force, which reduces what a buyer will pay and increases lapse risk for you. Ask the servicing company in writing whether any change has been implemented or announced for your product series.
Our ILIT owns the policy. What is required?
The trustee acts as seller, signs the documents and receives the proceeds for the trust. Expect requests for the trust agreement, trustee authority, the trust EIN and the Crummey notice history, and have trust counsel confirm whether beneficiary consent or court approval is needed.
How do I start a free review?
Send the policy cover page listing the issuing entity, policy number, face amount, issue date and both insureds’ names. That is enough for a free, no-obligation assessment of whether the policy is a candidate. Call (305) 209-7183 with questions.
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Related Reading
- Can I Sell A Survivorship Life Policy
- Survivorship Policy First Death
- Sell My Genworth Universal Life Policy
- Universal Life Cost Increases
- What Is Cost Of Insurance
- Ltc Insurance Denied
- Life Settlement Vs Long Term Care Rider
- Sell Ilit Trust Owned Policy
- How Life Settlement Buyers Price A Policy
- Life Settlement Provider Vs Broker
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.