Can You Sell a Zurich American Survivorship (Second-to-Die) Policy? (2026)

Zurich’s US Life Footprint Is Narrower Than Its Brand

Zurich Insurance Group is a Swiss insurer founded in 1872 and one of the largest commercial property and casualty carriers operating in the United States. Its US life arm, Zurich American Life Insurance Company, is a much smaller operation than the brand suggests. Zurich’s American individual life history runs through Kemper Investors Life Insurance Company and the Zurich Kemper Life organization, and over the years pieces of that individual retail block were sold, reinsured, or placed into runoff while the company concentrated on corporate and institutional life solutions.

The practical consequence for a policyholder is the same one that trips up owners of any legacy block: the name on the contract jacket may not be the name of the company answering the phone today. Before requesting anything, look at the issuing company on the cover page and the servicing contact on your most recent premium notice, and, as of 2026, confirm directly with that service center who administers the contract and whether the product line is still open or in runoff. Our page on figuring out who owns your policy after a merger walks through the research, and if you hold other Zurich coverage, see selling a Zurich American indexed universal life policy.

Corporate-Owned and Trust-Owned: Two Very Different Files

Most survivorship policies in the retail world sit inside an irrevocable life insurance trust. In the Zurich institutional world, a second-to-die contract may instead be owned by a corporation, a partnership, or a benefit plan trust. The distinction changes who can sell.

If a company owns the policy, the seller is the entity, and a buyer will want the corporate authority behind the decision: board or manager resolutions, evidence of who may bind the entity, and confirmation the policy is not pledged or collaterally assigned to a lender. Bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance is frequently subject to plan documents, accounting treatment, and — where employees are the insureds — notice and consent requirements adopted under federal law in 2006. Those are questions for the company’s own counsel and accountants. See selling a business-owned policy, bank-owned life insurance basics, and company-owned policies when the business is sold.

If a trust owns it, the trustee sells, subject to the trust’s own terms — covered further below. Either way, identify the owner on the cover page before doing anything else, because the entire process branches from that line.

The Joint-Mortality Discount, Explained Plainly

A second-to-die policy pays a single death benefit, and it pays it only after both insureds have died. That is not a detail; it is the whole valuation problem.

A buyer evaluating a single-life policy commissions one life expectancy report, projects the premium stream needed to hold the contract to that horizon, and discounts the death benefit back to present value. On a survivorship policy that process runs on two people and then has to be merged into a projection of the second death — which is driven by whichever insured lives longer. A frail 82-year-old paired with a healthy 74-year-old does not produce an 82-year-old’s pricing; it produces something closer to the 74-year-old’s, plus the cost of carrying premiums that entire time.

Two consequences follow. Offers on survivorship contracts come in below what the same face amount would fetch on a single life, and the number of buyers willing to bid is smaller because not every provider underwrites joint mortality. The commonly cited market ranges — roughly 10% to 35% of face value, and average proceeds of about four to eight times cash surrender value in the GAO’s market study (GAO-10-775) — describe the market broadly; survivorship cases cluster at the bottom of that band, and many draw no offer at all. See how buyers price a policy.

Reasons a Survivorship Policy Becomes Surplus

• Estate-tax exposure disappeared. These policies were sold to create liquidity for a tax bill at the second death. Federal exemption levels have risen a great deal since the 1990s, and many estates that were once clearly taxable are not now. Confirm the applicable figure with a tax professional; see also how exemption changes affect an existing policy.
• The ILIT lost its reason to exist. A trust whose only function was keeping the benefit outside a taxable estate can become an expensive administrative shell.
• The first insured died. The contract remains, but its economics change entirely.
• The business purpose ended. Buy-sell funding, key-person coverage, and succession arrangements get unwound when partners retire or the company is sold, while the premium notices keep arriving. See buy-sell funding after a partner is bought out.
• The premium outgrew the plan. Contracts illustrated on optimistic crediting assumptions often now require far more funding than projected.

Owner Type	Who Signs	Extra Documents Required	Common Complication
Individual or married couple	The policy owner	Cover page, in-force illustration, HIPAA	Both insureds must authorize records
Irrevocable life insurance trust	Trustee	Trust instrument, trustee proof, consents	Missing Crummey notices, unclear successor trustee
Corporation or partnership	Authorized officer	Board or manager resolutions, entity good standing	Collateral assignment to a lender
Benefit plan or COLI arrangement	Plan fiduciary or sponsor	Plan documents, employee notice and consent records	Accounting and employee-consent requirements

The First Death Changes Everything About Value

When one insured dies, a survivorship contract does not pay — but it does convert, economically, into a single-life policy on the survivor. One death now stands between the owner and the claim, the joint-mortality drag falls away, and value commonly improves. Files that attracted no interest while both insureds were alive sometimes attract multiple offers afterward.

Handle it in the right order. Notify the carrier of the death as the contract requires. Then request a new in-force illustration built on the single remaining insured, because survivorship designs differ in how cost of insurance behaves after the first death, and a pre-death illustration will simply be wrong about the premium you now face. Only then is the policy ready to be evaluated. Our page on survivorship policies after the first death covers the sequence in detail.

Trustees, Beneficiary Consent, and Crummey Records

Where an ILIT holds the policy, the trustee is the seller and acts under fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries. Expect a buyer to request the complete trust instrument with amendments, documentation of the currently serving trustee including successor appointments, and language confirming authority to sell trust property. Some instruments require written beneficiary consent or advance notice; some name a trust protector.

Then there is the Crummey file. ILITs funded by annual exclusion gifts depend on written withdrawal notices sent to beneficiaries each time a contribution is made, and after two or three decades those notices are frequently gone. Missing notices rarely stop a transaction, but they slow diligence and they raise gift-tax questions that belong to your own attorney rather than to a buyer’s representative. Assemble what exists before diligence starts. See missing Crummey notices and consent requirements in an irrevocable trust.

Contestability, Documents, and Timing

Life policies carry a two-year contestability period from the issue date, during which the insurer may investigate and rescind for material misrepresentation in the application. Buyers will not purchase a contract still exposed to that risk, so a recently issued survivorship policy has to season before it can be settled. The period runs from issue for both insureds and does not restart on a death; see the contestability period explained.

Documents build in stages. To start, the cover page is enough — issuing company, policy number, face amount, issue date, both insured names. If the file advances, add a current in-force illustration, HIPAA authorizations for both insureds, medical records, and the corporate or trust authority package. A verification of coverage from the carrier confirms the policy’s status independently; see the verification of coverage form. Realistic timing runs about 60 to 120 days from application to funded payment, and funds should be held by an independent escrow agent until the ownership change is recorded.

When Not Selling Is the Better Answer

Be willing to reach the conclusion that a sale is wrong. If the death benefit still funds a genuine obligation — an illiquid estate, a special-needs beneficiary, a contractual buy-sell commitment still in force — and the premium is affordable, keep the contract. If the only objective is to stop paying, and the policy has cash value, reduced paid-up or extended-term nonforfeiture options end the outflow without any transaction at all.

Surrender sets the floor. It pays cash surrender value and nothing more, which is exactly the number an offer must beat to justify months of underwriting and paperwork. On small survivorship contracts, or contracts where an outstanding loan has eaten most of the cash value, no offer will clear that bar — and hearing that early is worth more than a hopeful maybe. A free review returns a direction in days, at no cost and with no obligation. See policies with more loan than value, then send the cover page or call (305) 209-7183.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Zurich have to approve the sale of my survivorship policy?

No. The policy is property, and its owner may transfer it without insurer consent. The carrier’s role is to record the change of owner and beneficiary after closing. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with Zurich Insurance Group or Zurich American Life Insurance Company.

My policy says Kemper Investors Life. Is that the same thing?

Zurich’s American individual life history runs through the Zurich Kemper organization, and older contracts often carry those legacy names. Ownership rights are unchanged regardless of which entity services the file today. As of 2026, confirm the current administrator using the number on your latest premium notice.

Our company owns the policy, not a family trust. Can it still be sold?

Often yes, but the entity is the seller and the authority has to be documented. Buyers will want board or manager resolutions, proof of who can bind the company, and confirmation the policy is not collaterally assigned. Where employees are the insureds, notice and consent requirements may also apply, which is a question for company counsel.

Why do second-to-die policies draw lower offers?

Because nothing is paid until both insureds die. Buyers must underwrite two life expectancies and price joint mortality, and the payout follows whichever insured lives longer. That lengthens the expected holding period, raises total premium outlay, and lowers present value, while also narrowing the pool of buyers willing to bid.

One insured has died. Does that help?

Usually a great deal. The contract then prices like a single-life policy on the survivor, removing the joint-mortality drag. Notify the carrier of the death first, then request an in-force illustration reflecting one remaining insured before evaluating anything.

How much can a survivorship policy realistically bring?

Market-wide, sellers have historically received roughly 10% to 35% of face value, with the GAO’s study finding average proceeds of about four to eight times cash surrender value. Survivorship cases generally sit at the lower end of those ranges, and some receive no offers. Only a review of the actual contract will tell you where yours falls.

What if the policy was issued less than two years ago?

It is almost certainly too new. The two-year contestability period lets the insurer investigate and rescind for material misstatement in the application, and buyers will not take that risk. The policy generally has to season past that window before it can be settled.

What is the first step?

Send the policy cover page for a free, no-obligation review. It shows the issuing company, policy number, face amount, issue date, owner, and both insured names, which is enough to give a direction quickly. If you would rather talk first, call (305) 209-7183.

Related Reading

• Can I Sell A Survivorship Life Policy
• Can I Sell A Policy Owned By A Business
• Bank Owned Life Insurance Basics
• Carrier Merged Who Owns Policy
• Sell My Zurich American Indexed Universal Policy
• Survivorship Policy First Death
• Crummey Notices Missing
• What Is The Contestability Period
• Underwater Policy More Loan Than Value
• How Life Settlement Buyers Price A Policy

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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.