Can You Sell a Sun Life Survivorship (Second-to-Die) Policy? (2026)

Sun Life’s US Individual Life Block Changed Hands

Sun Life Financial is a Canadian insurer founded in Montreal in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, with a large and long-standing US presence. In 2013 it agreed to sell its US domestic individual life insurance and annuity business to Delaware Life Holdings, a Guggenheim-affiliated buyer, and that transaction closed the following year. Sun Life’s continuing US operation has since concentrated on group benefits — employer dental, disability, stop-loss and group life — rather than individual permanent coverage.

For a family holding an old US individual Sun Life contract, the practical result is that the policy is very likely administered by Delaware Life today even though the contract jacket still says Sun Life. That is normal and it changes none of your ownership rights, but it does change where every request goes: premium notices, in-force illustration requests, change-of-owner forms, and verification of coverage. As of 2026, confirm the current administrator by calling the number on your most recent statement rather than assuming. Our page on what happens when a carrier merges or sells a block explains the pattern, and if you hold other Delaware Life coverage, see selling a Delaware Life universal life policy.

Canadian Sun Life survivorship contracts are a different matter entirely — the US secondary market does not transact on foreign-issued policies, so a policy issued by Sun Life in Canada is outside the scope of a US life settlement.

What “Second-to-Die” Actually Means for Value

A survivorship policy insures two people, typically spouses, and pays a single death benefit when the second of them dies. Nothing is paid on the first death. That single design feature drives everything about how the policy is valued in a sale.

A buyer purchasing a single-life policy estimates one life expectancy, projects premium outlay over that horizon, and discounts the eventual death benefit back to present value. On a survivorship contract the buyer must obtain life expectancy reports on both insureds and then model the distribution of the second death — which is governed by whichever life runs longer. If one spouse is 80 and in fragile health while the other is 76 and healthy, the pricing follows the 76-year-old, not the 80-year-old. The expected wait lengthens, premium outlay grows, and present value falls.

That is why survivorship offers are structurally lower than single-life offers on identical face amounts, and why fewer providers bid on them at all. Some buyers simply do not underwrite joint-life risk. Market-wide ranges — roughly 10% to 35% of face value, and average proceeds in the neighborhood of four to eight times cash surrender value per the GAO’s market study (GAO-10-775) — are the outer frame, but a second-to-die case typically lands at the lower boundary. See life expectancy underwriting and what affects an offer.

Signs the Policy Has Outlived Its Purpose

Survivorship coverage was almost always bought for a reason that had an expiration date. Look honestly at whether yours has arrived.

• Estate-tax exposure shrank. The classic use was liquidity to pay federal estate tax after the second death. Exemption levels have moved a great deal since the 1990s, and many estates that were plainly taxable then are not now. Confirm the current threshold with a tax professional for the relevant year.
• The ILIT has no remaining job. A trust created solely to keep the death benefit out of the taxable estate may now be a container holding an expensive asset for no reason. See what to do with the policy when an ILIT terminates.
• A first death has occurred. The contract survives but its economics change entirely.
• The business purpose ended. Second-to-die policies also backstopped family business succession and buy-sell agreements that have since been unwound.
• The illustration did not hold up. Policies sold on 1990s interest assumptions frequently now demand premiums nobody planned for. If that is your situation, read when the vanishing premium did not vanish.

How the First Death Rewrites the Analysis

Once one insured has died, the remaining contract is functionally a single-life policy on the survivor. Only one death now stands between the owner and the claim, the joint-mortality drag disappears, and value frequently improves — sometimes enough to turn a case that drew no offers into one that draws several.

Do not act on the old paperwork. Notify the administrator of the death as the contract requires, then request a fresh in-force illustration that reflects a single remaining insured. Some survivorship designs change their cost-of-insurance pattern or premium requirement after the first death, and an illustration run beforehand will understate or overstate what you now owe. Our page on a survivorship policy after the first death covers the sequence.

This is also, in practice, when the decision gets made. A widow or widower carrying a second-to-die premium out of Social Security and a modest retirement account, for a death benefit designed to solve a tax problem that no longer exists, is the archetypal survivorship settlement candidate.

Question	What to Check	Where to Find It
Who administers the policy now?	Current servicing company name and phone	Most recent premium notice or annual statement
Is it truly second-to-die?	Two named insureds; benefit payable on second death	Policy cover page and specifications pages
Is it past contestability?	Issue date more than two years ago	Policy cover page
Who owns it?	Individual, couple, or irrevocable trust	Cover page owner line; trust instrument
What premium does it really need?	Projected premium to maturity, several scenarios	In-force illustration from the administrator
What is the floor?	Current cash surrender value net of loans	Annual statement

The Trust Owns It — So the Trustee Sells It

Because survivorship policies were built for estate planning, most sit inside an irrevocable life insurance trust. If yours does, the seller is the trustee acting for the beneficiaries, and the insureds are not parties to the sale at all except as medical subjects.

Expect a document review before anything moves: the full trust instrument with amendments, evidence of the currently serving trustee including successor appointments, and language confirming the trustee may sell or dispose of trust property. Some instruments require written beneficiary consent or advance notice; some name a trust protector. If a bank or trust company serves as trustee, there will be an internal approval process with its own timeline — a fiduciary needs a defensible record that selling served the beneficiaries better than keeping or surrendering. That is a good discipline, not an obstacle. See a trustee’s duty on an underperforming policy and selling a trust-owned policy.

Crummey Notices, Trust Records, and Diligence

ILITs funded by annual exclusion gifts depend on Crummey withdrawal rights — the trustee’s written notice to each beneficiary of a temporary right to withdraw the contribution. Those notices are supposed to live in the trust file. After two or three decades they are frequently missing, along with the gift-tax returns that referenced them.

Buyer’s counsel reviewing a trust-owned survivorship policy will ask for administrative history, and thin records slow diligence because they make the chain of authority harder to verify. Gather what exists, ask your own attorney about any gift-tax questions the gaps raise, and do not let a buyer’s representative tell you the gap is either meaningless or catastrophic — that judgment belongs to your counsel. Missing Crummey notices covers the cleanup in more detail.

Contestability, Documents, and Realistic Timing

Nearly every life policy carries a two-year contestability period from the issue date, during which the insurer may investigate and rescind for material misrepresentation on the application. Buyers avoid contracts still inside that window, so a recently issued survivorship policy generally cannot be settled until it seasons. The clock runs from issue for both insureds, not from any death. See why buyers wait two years after issue.

To open a review you need only the policy cover page — issuing company, policy number, face amount, issue date, both insured names. If the case moves forward, the file grows to include a current in-force illustration from the administrator, HIPAA authorizations for both insureds, and, when the policy is trust-owned, the trust package. Realistic timing is roughly 60 to 120 days end to end, with two sets of medical records the usual delay. Any funds should sit with an independent escrow agent until the administrator confirms the ownership change; read how escrow works before you sign anything.

When Keeping or Surrendering Beats Selling

Selling is not automatically the best outcome, and a survivorship policy is the category where that is most often true. If the death benefit still funds a real liability — an illiquid estate, a special-needs beneficiary, a family business — and the premium is manageable, keep it. If the only goal is to stop the premium and the contract carries meaningful cash value, look first at reduced paid-up or extended-term nonforfeiture options, which end payments without a transaction at all. See nonforfeiture options compared.

Surrender is the floor. It is fast and certain, and it pays cash surrender value and nothing more — which is precisely the number any settlement offer must exceed to be worth pursuing. On small or heavily loaned survivorship contracts, no offer will clear that bar, and the honest answer is to surrender or keep. A free review will sort your policy into the right bucket in a few days, at no cost and with no obligation. Send the cover page or call (305) 209-7183.

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Frequently Asked Questions

My policy says Sun Life but my bills come from a different company. Why?

Sun Life agreed in 2013 to sell its US domestic individual life and annuity business to Delaware Life Holdings, and the block has been administered under that ownership since. Your contract terms and ownership rights are unchanged; only the servicing company differs. Confirm the current administrator with the number on your latest statement.

Does Sun Life have to approve the sale?

No. A life insurance policy is transferable property, and the owner can sell it without the insurer’s consent. The administrator simply records the change of owner and beneficiary once the transaction closes. Pine Lake is not affiliated with Sun Life or with the current administrator of its former US block.

Why do second-to-die policies get smaller offers?

Because the death benefit is not paid until both insureds have died. Buyers must underwrite two life expectancies and price the joint mortality, which lengthens the expected holding period and increases premium outlay. Longer horizons mean lower present value, so offers run below comparable single-life cases and fewer buyers participate.

One insured has died. Should we get the policy re-reviewed?

Yes, that is exactly the right time. With one death remaining, the contract prices like a single-life policy on the survivor and value often improves. Request a new in-force illustration reflecting the first death before drawing any conclusions, because premium requirements can shift at that point.

Can a Canadian Sun Life policy be sold in a US life settlement?

No. The US secondary market transacts on policies issued by US insurers under US state insurance law. A contract issued by Sun Life in Canada falls outside that framework. If you are unsure which entity issued your policy, the issuing company is printed on the cover page.

Our ILIT owns the policy. Who actually signs the sale documents?

The trustee signs, acting for the trust’s beneficiaries. Expect a review of the trust instrument, proof of the currently serving trustee, and confirmation that the trust authorizes disposing of assets. Some trusts also require beneficiary notice or consent, so involve the drafting attorney early.

How long will the whole process take?

Budget roughly 60 to 120 days from application to funded payment. Survivorship cases often run long because medical records are required for two insureds and trust documents add a review step. Payment should be held in independent escrow until the ownership change is recorded.

What should I send to get an answer quickly?

The policy cover page alone is enough for a free, no-obligation review. It shows the issuing company, policy number, face amount, issue date, and both insured names. Call (305) 209-7183 if you would prefer to describe the situation first.

Related Reading

• Can I Sell A Survivorship Life Policy
• Survivorship Policy First Death
• Carrier Merged Who Owns Policy
• Sell My Delaware Life Universal Life Policy
• Can I Sell A Policy Owned By A Trust
• Trustee Duty Underperforming Policy
• Crummey Notices Missing
• Waiting Two Years After Issue
• Life Settlement Escrow Explained
• What Is Life Expectancy Underwriting

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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.