§36-3604. Insurable interest with respect to personal insurance.
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/ok/title-36-insurance/36-3604·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
A. 1. Any individual of competent legal capacity may procure or effect an insurance contract upon his or her own life or body for the benefit of any person. Except as provided in subsection D of this section, no person shall procure or cause to be procured any insurance contract upon the life or body of another individual unless the benefits under the contract are payable to the individual insured or a personal representatives, or to a person having, at the time when the contract was made, an insurable interest in the individual insured.
2. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, a policy procured and owned by a corporation, partnership, association, limited liability company, or other legal entity on the life or body of an officer, director, manager, member, or employee, other than a sole proprietor, upon the termination of the insurable interest, the owner of the policy shall, if permitted by the terms of the policy, offer to sell, transfer, or assign the policy to the insured in exchange for the cash surrender value of the policy or, if there is no cash value, in exchange for an amount equal to the total of any premiums paid for the policy, minus any dividends received, plus interest.
This offer shall be made in writing to the insured after termination of the insurable interest. The offer shall state the time for acceptance which shall not be less than thirty
(30)days after receipt of the offer by the insured. If the insured rejects the offer or fails to accept the offer in the time provided, the owner of the policy may continue to own the policy subject to its terms.
B. If the beneficiary, assignee, or other payee under any contract made in violation of this section receives from the insurer any benefits thereunder accruing upon the death, disability, or injury of the individual insured, the individual insured or an executor or administrator, as the case may be, may maintain an action to recover such benefits from the person receiving them.
C. "Insurable interest" with reference to personal insurance includes only interests as follows:
1. In the case of individuals related closely by blood or by law, a substantial interest engendered by love and affection;
2. In the case of other persons, a lawful and substantial economic interest in having the life, health, or bodily safety of the individual insured continue, as distinguished from an interest which would arise only by, or would be enhanced in value by, the death, disability, or injury of the individual insured;
3. An individual heretofore or hereafter party to a contract or option for the purchase or sale of an interest in a business partnership or firm, or of shares of stock of a closed corporation or of an interest in such shares, has an insurable interest in the life of each individual party to the contract and for the purposes of the contract only, in addition to any insurable interest which may otherwise exist as to the life of the individual;
4. A trustee of a trust, whenever established, shall be deemed to have an insurable interest in:
a. the individual insured who established the trust,
b. each individual in whose life the owner of the trust
for federal income tax purposes has an insurable
interest, and
c. each individual in whose life a beneficiary of the
trust has an insurable interest; and the proceeds of
the life insurance policy are primarily for the
benefit of the trust beneficiaries having an insurable
interest in the life of the individual insured; and
5. a. An employer, or a trust which is sponsored by an
employer for the benefit of its employees, shall have
an insurable interest in each of the lives of the
employees, directors, or retired employees of the
employer. Notwithstanding paragraph 2 of subsection C
of this section or Section 4101 of this title, and
amendments thereto, the employer or trust may insure
the life of any employee, director, or retired
employee for the benefit of the employer or trust on
an individual or group basis only with the written
consent of the insured.
b. The consent requirement of Section 3607 of this title
shall be accomplished as follows:
(1)the employer shall notify the employee, director,
or retired employee by a written notice that the
employer or trust would like to obtain life
insurance coverage with respect to the person's
life, and
(2)if the employee, director, or retired employee
fails to provide written consent to the employer
or trust, the employer or trust shall not
purchase or obtain such insurance.
c.
It shall be unlawful for the employer or trust to
retaliate against any person for refusing to consent
to the issuance of insurance on the person.
d. The insurable interest of the employer or trust in
nonmanagement and retired employees shall be limited
to an amount agreed to by the employee or, in the
absence of an agreement, an amount of aggregate
projected death benefits commensurate with the
aggregate projected liabilities to the employee under
all employee welfare benefit plans, as defined in
Section 1002(1) of Title 29 of the United States Code.
Calculations of life insurance benefits and welfare
benefit liabilities shall be made in accordance with
generally accepted actuarial principles. Matching of
life insurance benefits and welfare benefit
liabilities may be done on cash flow, present value,
or other appropriate basis.
e. For purposes of this section:
(1)"employer" means any individual, sole
proprietorship, partnership, limited liability
company, corporation, or other legal entity that
is legally doing business in this state; the term
shall also include all entities or persons which
are controlled by or affiliated with any of the
foregoing. The determination of whether any
entity or person is controlled by or affiliated
with another shall be made by applying the
principles set forth in subsection
(b)or
(c)of
Section 414 of Title 26 of the United States
Code, as in effect on January 1, 1993, except
that all references therein to eighty percent
(80%) shall be changed to fifty-one percent
(51%), and
(2)“employee” means any common law employee of an
employer.
f. This section shall not be interpreted to limit other
insurable interests which may exist by statute or at
common law.
g. Determination of the existence and extent of the
insurable interest under any life insurance policy
shall be made at the time the contract of insurance
becomes effective, provided however, the insurable
interest need not exist at the time the loss occurs.
D. Life insurance contracts may be entered into in which the person paying the consideration for the insurance has no insurable interest in the life of the individual insured, where charitable, benevolent, educational or religious institutions, or their
agencies, are designated as the beneficiaries thereof. In no event shall an individual be named as a beneficiary. In making these contracts, the person paying the premium shall make and sign the application therefor as owner and shall designate a charitable, benevolent, educational, or religious institution, or an agency thereof, as the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the contract. The application or any subsequent change of beneficiary designation shall be signed by the individual whose life is to be insured. These contracts shall be valid and binding among the parties, notwithstanding the absence otherwise of an insurable interest in the life of the individual insured.
E. Life insurance contracts may be entered into in which the members of an alumni association of an institution of higher education accredited by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education are insured under a group insurance policy and either the institution is the designated beneficiary thereof or the association is the designated beneficiary with the stipulation that the association will use the proceeds of the policies for direct grants to the institution or for scholarships for students of such institutions.
In no event shall an individual be named as a beneficiary to such a policy. In making such contracts, the person paying the premium shall make and sign the application therefor as owner and shall designate an institution or alumni association as the beneficiary or beneficiaries of such contract. The application or any subsequent change of beneficiary designation shall be signed also by the individual whose life is to be insured. These contracts shall be valid and binding among the parties thereto, notwithstanding the absence of an insurable interest in the life of the individual insured.
Added by Laws 1957, p. 363, § 3604. Amended by Laws 1989, c. 320, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1989; Laws 1991, c. 223, § 1, emerg. eff. May 23, 1991; Laws 1994, c. 214, § 2, eff. July 1, 1994; Laws 1999, c. 424, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2008, c. 183, § 18, eff. Nov. 1, 2008.