Health Insurance – Life Insurance Revocable or Irrevocable Beneficiaries So what is the difference?

You can make beneficiaries revocable or irrevocable. So what is the difference?

With these exceptions of those living in Quebec, all your beneficiaries will be considered revocable unless you state otherwise. This simply means you can change the beneficiary at a later time as you see fit. You would simply complete a new beneficiary form and sign off on the change.

When you designate someone as irrevocable you must have the beneficiary, as well as yourself, sign off on the beneficiary change. A couple of important notes around this:

• Those in Quebec, the law states your spouse is always irrevocable.
• If you make a minor an irrevocable beneficiary that beneficiary will be essentially locked in until the age of 18 when s/he can legally sign for him/herself.

Another important note regarding your beneficiaries: if you assign a minor as a beneficiary, whether as primary or contingent, you must assign a trustee who would be responsible for management of the funds until the minor turns 18 and can legally manage the funds him/herself.