Yes — an Ozark National Life term policy can be sold in a life settlement, but in nearly every case it must first be converted to permanent coverage, and that depends entirely on whether your conversion privilege is still open. Any carrier’s policy can be sold when the policyholder and the policy qualify; the buyer purchases the contract and the carrier’s permission is not required. Term is simply the type where a contractual deadline, not the insurer, decides the answer.
Term matters more than usual for Ozark National households. The company, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and acquired by Kansas City Life in 2019, built its business around a distinctive combined package: level-term life insurance paired with a separate mutual-fund investment account, sold through a dedicated career sales force. If you bought that package, the insurance half is term — and term has no cash value, expires, and returns nothing if you simply stop paying.
The conversion privilege is the valuable feature in that contract, and it expires quietly. Check yours today. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Ozark National Life or Kansas City Life.
In This Article
- The Investment Account Is Not the Insurance — and Cannot Be Sold
- Find Your Conversion Deadline Today
- Why the Deadline Passes Without Anyone Telling You
- What Conversion Produces and What It Costs
- The Health-Impairment Exception
- If the Window Has Already Closed
- Two Clocks, One Timeline
- Realistic Expectations on Size and Value
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Investment Account Is Not the Insurance — and Cannot Be Sold
Because the Ozark National package bundles two things, this needs to be said directly. The mutual-fund investment account that came alongside your term coverage is a separate asset. It is not part of the insurance contract, it does not transfer in a life settlement, and no buyer acquires it.
That means two things. Your account balance is yours and stays yours regardless of what happens to the policy — selling the insurance does not touch it. And the account balance is not policy cash value; it does not make a term policy sellable and it does not factor into what a buyer would pay. When you gather paperwork, keep the two sets of statements separate so nothing gets conflated.
Find Your Conversion Deadline Today
Open the policy contract and look for a provision headed “Conversion Privilege,” “Right to Convert,” or “Exchange Option.” It will state a limit in one of two common forms:
- An attained-age limit — convertible until, say, age 65 or 70.
- A duration limit — convertible during the first 10 or 15 policy years, or during the level-premium period.
If the language is unclear, call the servicing company and ask two direct questions: is this policy still convertible, and what is the last date I can exercise it? Ask for written confirmation, and verify with the carrier as of 2026 rather than relying on old sales material. Confirm the current servicing entity at the same time, since the 2019 acquisition changed where service requests go.
Why the Deadline Passes Without Anyone Telling You
Conversion deadlines are among the quietest things in personal finance. No statement flags them in bold. No agent calls. The privilege simply expires on a date buried in a contract signed decades earlier, and many owners find out only when they finally ask.
That is unfortunate, because conversion is uniquely valuable to exactly the people most likely to forget it: someone in their late 60s or 70s whose health has changed. Conversion requires no medical exam and no evidence of insurability. If you can no longer qualify for new coverage, conversion is the one door that stays open — right up until it does not.
If the window is still open, you have real choices. If it has closed, the picture narrows sharply.
What Conversion Produces and What It Costs
Exercising the privilege exchanges term coverage for a permanent policy — whole life, universal life, or in many cases a guaranteed universal life product, depending on what the carrier offers converters. The result is a death benefit that does not expire, which is what makes a settlement possible: a buyer purchasing a policy that could expire worthless has no reliable outcome.
The obstacle is price. Converting in your 70s means paying permanent premiums at your attained age, which can run several times the term premium. Many people stop there. It is worth going one step further before you do, because in a settlement the buyer takes over premiums after closing. What matters to the transaction is the total premium load required to carry the policy — not whether you could personally afford it indefinitely.
Ask the carrier for a conversion quote listing available permanent products and premiums, and ask whether partial conversion of only part of the face amount is allowed.
| Question to Ask the Carrier | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Is this policy still convertible, and until what date? | Determines whether a settlement is possible at all |
| Which permanent products can I convert into? | Different products carry very different premiums and guarantees |
| What is the premium for each conversion option? | Premium load is a core input in how a buyer prices the policy |
| Can I convert only part of the face amount? | Partial conversion can make a large policy manageable |
| Does the policy have a renewal option, and at what cost? | An alternative if conversion is no longer available |
| Which entity services this policy today? | The 2019 acquisition changed where requests are handled |
The Health-Impairment Exception
There is one circumstance in which term coverage can sometimes draw interest without converting first: a serious health impairment that materially shortens the insured’s life expectancy relative to the remaining term. When that gap is wide enough, the buyer’s risk that the policy expires unpaid falls.
These situations are evaluated case by case and depend heavily on the medical picture and how many years of coverage remain. Treat it as an exception, not a rule. Where a conversion privilege exists, converting remains the far more dependable route.
If the Window Has Already Closed
Be ready for this answer. If your term policy is no longer convertible and the insured is in reasonable health, there is usually no settlement market for it. That is a straight answer rather than a sales pitch, and it saves you time.
What remains: keep the coverage through the level-premium period if the protection is still needed; find out whether the contract has a renewal option and what the renewal premium would be, since renewal premiums after the level period often rise steeply; or, if coverage is genuinely unnecessary, let it end and redirect the premium. What you should not do is assume the window is closed without checking — people misread this provision constantly.
Two Clocks, One Timeline
Anyone selling converted term coverage is managing two schedules that do not align.
The conversion deadline is fixed and unforgiving. The settlement process runs about 60 to 120 days from application to funded payment: free review, documentation and an in-force illustration on the converted policy, medical records and life-expectancy work under a specific and revocable HIPAA authorization, a written offer, contracts, funds held by an independent escrow agent, the ownership change recorded by the carrier, and payment — followed in most states by a rescission window.
Start the review before the conversion deadline, not after. All you need to send for a first look is the policy cover page, plus the contract page describing the conversion privilege if you have it.
Realistic Expectations on Size and Value
Buyers generally look for a death benefit of $100,000 or more, an insured in their senior years, and premium economics that work. Federal research on the market (GAO-10-775) found sellers of qualifying policies typically received roughly 10% to 35% of face value, about 4 to 8 times cash surrender value — a comparison that is especially stark for term, where surrender value is zero.
Small policies are a different story, and honesty serves you better than optimism here. Final-expense and burial policies, and small term or whole life amounts well under six figures, are usually too small for the secondary market to price. If that describes your coverage, the better questions are whether the protection is still needed and whether the premium fits your budget.
If you also hold permanent Ozark National coverage, see our guides to selling an Ozark National whole life policy or an Ozark National universal life policy. For a free policy review, send the cover page or call (305) 209-7183. This page is educational only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell a term policy that has no cash value?
Usually only after converting it to permanent coverage. Term expires and has no cash value, so a buyer cannot rely on it ever paying a death benefit. Conversion exchanges it for permanent coverage that does not expire, which is what makes a settlement workable.
Is my Ozark National mutual-fund account sold with the policy?
No. The companion investment account is a separate asset. It does not transfer in a life settlement, no buyer acquires it, and it stays yours regardless of what happens to the insurance. It is also not policy cash value.
How do I find out whether my policy is still convertible?
Look in the contract for a Conversion Privilege, Right to Convert, or Exchange Option provision, which states an age or duration limit. If the wording is unclear, call the servicing company and ask directly for the final conversion date, and request written confirmation.
Will I need a medical exam to convert?
No. Conversion privileges are designed to work without new evidence of insurability, which is exactly what makes them valuable to someone whose health has changed since the policy was issued.
The permanent premium is far higher than my term premium. Does that end it?
Not necessarily. In a settlement the buyer takes over premiums after closing, so what matters is the total premium load required to carry the policy, not whether you personally could afford it forever. Get a conversion quote from the carrier and bring it into the review.
Does Kansas City Life’s 2019 acquisition of Ozark National affect my rights?
The contract terms, including your conversion privilege, are contractual and survive a change in corporate ownership. What changes is servicing — the entity and contact details for policy requests. Confirm the current servicing arrangement with the company.
What if my conversion deadline has already passed?
In most cases there is no settlement market for non-convertible term unless the insured has a serious health impairment and limited remaining coverage. Confirm the deadline with the carrier before assuming it has passed, since this provision is frequently misread.
How long does everything take?
The settlement process runs roughly 60 to 120 days from application to funded payment, plus the time needed to complete the conversion first. Because the conversion deadline is fixed, begin the review well before it arrives.
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Related Reading
- What Policies Qualify For Life Settlement
- What Is An In Force Illustration
- Is A Life Settlement Worth It
- Education Center
- Sell My Ozark National Whole Life Policy
- Sell My Ozark National Universal 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.