Yes, but with one condition that decides almost every case: a term life policy is generally sellable only if it can still be converted to permanent coverage. Kansas City Life’s permission to sell is not required – you own the contract. What you need is a live conversion privilege, because a term policy on its own has no cash value and expires worthless at the end of the level period, which gives a buyer nothing to purchase.
This is the most time-sensitive page on our site for a reason. Conversion privileges expire. They typically end at a stated attained age or after a stated number of policy years, whichever comes first, and once that date passes there is no appeal and no exception. Owners lose real money every year by finding out about conversion two months too late.
Below: how to find your conversion deadline, what your Kansas City Life term policy converts into, how the conversion and the sale fit together, and when the whole exercise is not worth it. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with Kansas City Life Insurance Company.
In This Article
- Why Term Alone Cannot Be Sold – and Convertible Term Can
- Finding Your Conversion Deadline Before It Finds You
- What Your Term Policy Converts Into
- How Conversion and the Sale Fit Together
- Documents and Information to Have Ready
- A Clearly Hypothetical Example
- When Selling a Term Policy Does Not Make Sense
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Term Alone Cannot Be Sold – and Convertible Term Can
A buyer in the secondary market is purchasing a future death benefit. A twenty-year term policy issued to a 58-year-old pays nothing if the insured is alive at 78, and the odds are the insured will be. There is no cash value to fall back on. So the contract, standing alone, has no market.
The conversion privilege changes that completely. It is a contractual right to exchange the term policy for a permanent policy – typically whole life or universal life – with no new medical underwriting. Health is irrelevant to the exchange. That right is valuable precisely to an insured whose health has declined, because it produces a permanent policy that would be impossible to buy on the open market. That permanent policy is what actually gets sold.
Finding Your Conversion Deadline Before It Finds You
The deadline lives in your policy’s conversion provision, usually a short paragraph a few pages into the contract, and it is often summarized on the declarations page. The two common formulations are an attained-age cutoff, such as conversion permitted through age 65 or 70, and a duration cutoff, such as within the first ten policy years or before the end of the level premium period – whichever arrives first.
Do not rely on memory, an agent’s recollection, or a general description of Kansas City Life’s product line. Call the policyholder service number on your premium notice, ask for your specific policy’s conversion expiration date and the list of permanent products currently available for conversion, and ask for it in writing. Product availability and conversion rules change over time, so confirm both in 2026 rather than working from the brochure you were handed at issue.
What Your Term Policy Converts Into
You will usually be offered a choice from the carrier’s current permanent portfolio – some form of whole life, universal life, or guaranteed universal life. The choice matters for a settlement. A guaranteed universal life contract designed to hold a level death benefit for the least premium is generally the most attractive conversion target for a buyer, because the buyer’s carrying cost is low and predictable. A richly funded whole life contract costs far more to carry and can produce a smaller offer.
Two mechanics to confirm with the carrier: whether the full face amount may be converted or only part of it, and what premium the new permanent policy will require at the insured’s current age. Conversion premiums at 72 are nothing like term premiums at 52 – which is precisely why an immediate sale, with the buyer taking over those premiums, is often the reason to convert at all.
| Situation | Can it be sold? | Why | What to do first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convertible term, window open, insured 70+ | Usually worth exploring | Conversion creates a permanent policy a buyer can own | Get the conversion deadline in writing, then request a review |
| Convertible term, window closing within a year | Yes – but urgently | Missing the date ends the option permanently | Start the review immediately, in parallel with conversion |
| Conversion window already expired | Generally no | Nothing permanent can be created from the contract | Compare keeping coverage vs. letting it lapse |
| Non-convertible term | Generally no | No cash value and no path to permanent coverage | Check the contract wording anyway before concluding |
| Convertible term, insured under 65 and healthy | Rarely | Long life expectancy makes carrying cost too high | Keep the coverage if it is still needed |
How Conversion and the Sale Fit Together
Order of operations matters. The sensible sequence is: confirm the conversion right and deadline, request a free policy review while the term policy is still in force, get an indication of what the converted policy would be worth, and only then execute the conversion. Converting first and asking questions later can leave you holding a permanent policy with a large premium and no buyer.
In practice the conversion paperwork and the settlement process overlap. The carrier issues the new permanent contract, and the change of ownership on that new contract is what closes the sale. Because both steps run through the same service center, build extra weeks into your expectations – and never let the conversion deadline pass while you are waiting on someone else’s paperwork.
Documents and Information to Have Ready
Start with the term policy cover page: insured, face amount, issue date, level period, and policy number. Add the current premium notice. Then get, in writing from the carrier, the conversion expiration date, the conversion options available, and the premium quote for each conversion option at the insured’s current age.
Health information about the insured matters as much here as anywhere, since life expectancy is the main driver of value. And check for riders – a term policy sometimes carries a child rider or a waiver of premium provision, and you should know what disappears at conversion. A free policy review needs only the cover page to start; the rest can follow.
A Clearly Hypothetical Example
Suppose a $400,000 twenty-year Kansas City Life term policy was issued at age 57. The insured is now 74, in declining health, and the level period ends in eighteen months. The term premium has been affordable; the renewal premium after the level period would be many times higher, and the family has decided the coverage is no longer needed.
Surrendering is not an option – there is no cash value, so walking away produces exactly zero. Letting it lapse produces zero. If the conversion privilege is still open, converting to a permanent contract and selling it produces something. Even a modest offer measured against a zero alternative is a meaningful outcome, which is why term cases with a live conversion window are worth chasing hard and term cases without one usually are not.
When Selling a Term Policy Does Not Make Sense
Be honest about the cases that fail. If the conversion window has closed, there is generally nothing to sell, and no amount of shopping around changes that. If the insured is younger and in good health, life expectancy is long, the buyer’s carrying cost is enormous, and offers will be small or nonexistent.
And if the coverage is still doing its job – a mortgage on a surviving spouse’s house, a child still in school, income replacement that has not yet been replaced – keep it. Term insurance is cheap protection while it lasts. Selling a policy your family still needs to solve a short-term cash problem is usually the wrong trade. If the goal is Medicaid planning or paying for care, talk to an elder law attorney about the whole picture before you touch the policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell a term policy that has no cash value?
Only by converting it first, in nearly all cases. Term insurance with no cash value and no conversion privilege gives a buyer nothing to purchase. If the conversion right is still open, the converted permanent policy is what gets sold.
Where do I find my conversion deadline?
In the conversion provision of the policy itself, and often summarized on the declarations page. The reliable route is to call the policyholder service number on your premium notice and ask the carrier to confirm your policy’s conversion expiration date in writing.
Does converting require a medical exam?
No. The point of a contractual conversion privilege is that it is exercised without new evidence of insurability. That is exactly why it is valuable to an insured whose health has changed since the policy was issued.
What will the converted policy cost?
Considerably more than the term premium, because pricing is based on the insured’s current age. Ask the carrier for a premium quote on each available conversion option before you commit – and remember that in a settlement the buyer, not you, takes over those premiums after closing.
Do I have to convert the whole face amount?
Not always. Many contracts allow partial conversion, which lets you convert and sell part of the coverage while keeping the rest as term. Confirm what your specific policy permits with the carrier.
Is Kansas City Life involved in the sale itself?
Only administratively. It issues the converted policy and later records the change of owner and beneficiary. It does not approve or block the transaction, and Pine Lake is not affiliated with the company.
How long does all of this take?
Budget 60 to 120 days for the settlement side, plus whatever the conversion paperwork takes. If your conversion deadline is close, start now rather than waiting for the settlement process to finish.
What if my term policy is a group policy from a former employer?
Group coverage generally has to be converted to an individual policy within a short window after employment ends – often around 31 days. That window is much tighter than an individual policy’s conversion privilege, so check the certificate immediately.
Find out what your policy is worth — free, confidential, no obligation.
A 15-minute educational review covers your eligibility, every alternative, and a realistic view of what each path would net you.
Related Reading
- What Policies Qualify For Life Settlement
- How It Works Policy Options
- Education Center
- What Is A Life Settlement Broker
- Sell My Kansas City Life Guaranteed Universal Policy
- Sell My Kansas City Life 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.