It is estimated that there are over a million divorces in the United States each year.1 This reflects a tremendous need for life insurance planning in relation to alimony, child support and property settlement agreements.
The California appellate court held that the characterization of term life insurance policy death proceeds as community or separate property depends, not only on who paid the final premium (i.e., was it paid with separate or community funds), but also on other factors such as (1) the insurability of the insured and (2) whether the amount of the final premium payment is capped or otherwise discounted against the current market cost of comparable coverage.