Estate planning
Whole of Life Plan
Guaranteed cover for the whole of life, written in trust so the sum assured pays a known inheritance tax liability without the family having to sell an asset to fund it.
Glendalough, Co. Wicklow · Superbass, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who it is for
Clients with a known, quantified estate tax liability
What it does
- Guaranteed premiums and guaranteed sum assured
- Single life or joint life second death
- Written in trust so proceeds fall outside the estate
- Indexation option to keep pace with a growing liability
The product in full
When an estate faces a known tax liability and its value is tied up in things that cannot be sold quickly — a farm, a business, a house the family lives in — the problem is not the liability. It is that the liability falls due before the asset can be turned into money, and the family sells in a hurry at a bad price.
A whole of life plan written in trust solves that specific problem. The sum assured is paid on death, to trustees rather than to the estate, so it arrives outside the estate and it arrives promptly. The family uses it to meet the liability and keeps the asset.
Everything about this contract is guaranteed: the premium does not change and the sum assured does not change, for as long as premiums are paid. That is why it costs more than the reviewable alternative — the insurer is carrying the risk that the cost of the cover rises over forty years, rather than passing it back at a review. For a liability that will certainly arise, most clients would rather know the price.
Joint life second death cover is the common basis for a married couple, because that is usually when the liability crystallises. An indexation option keeps the sum assured moving with a growing estate, which matters over the decades these policies run.
Literature
Product literature is issued to appointed intermediaries. Ask your underwriter, or request it through the enquiry form.
- Key features documentOn request
- Application formOn request
- Trust deedOn request
How it works
What happens, in order
From the first enquiry to the point the cover, the contract or the facility is in place.
The liability is quantified
By the client’s own advisers. The sum assured should be a considered figure, not a round number.
The basis and the lives are chosen
Single life, or joint life second death. Minimum sum assured £100,000.
The lives assured are underwritten
Medical and, where relevant, financial underwriting. The premium is then guaranteed for the life of the policy.
The plan is written in trust at outset
So the proceeds are payable to trustees rather than into the estate. Doing this at outset avoids a later assignment.
On death, the trustees are paid and meet the liability
Promptly, and without needing a grant of probate to reach the money.
The numbers
A worked example
Illustrative arithmetic, so the shape of the product is visible rather than described. Nothing here is a quotation or a projection.
A £400,000 liability on an illiquid estate
A couple aged 68 and 66, joint life second death, on illustrative terms.
- Estate valueMostly a working farm and the family home
- £2,600,000
- Liability quantified by the client’s advisers
- £400,000
- Sum assuredGuaranteed, and it does not change
- £400,000
- Basis
- Joint life second death
- Illustrative guaranteed monthly premium
- £640
- Written in trust
- At outset
- Assets the family would otherwise have to sell
- None
Illustrative and not a quotation — the premium depends entirely on the ages, the health and the underwriting outcome of the actual lives assured. Not tax advice: the liability figure comes from the client’s own advisers, and so does the decision that insuring it is the right response.
Guaranteed premiums against a guaranteed sum assured
Cumulative premiums paid on the illustrative plan above, against the £400,000 the plan pays whenever death occurs.
View these figures as a table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Year 5 | £38k |
| Year 10 | £77k |
| Year 20 | £154k |
| Year 30 | £230k |
Suitability
Where the Whole of Life Plan fits
The cases it answers, the cases it does not, and what an underwriter needs before quoting.
It is the right answer when
- A known, quantified liability on an estate that cannot be liquidated quickly.
- Clients who want the cost fixed for life rather than reviewed.
- Married couples where the liability arises on the second death.
Look at something else when
- A client whose priority is the lowest entry premium — the Flexible Life Plan is cheaper at outset.
- A temporary need with an end date; whole of life cover is not the efficient answer to that.
- Sums assured below £100,000.
What we need to quote
- 1.The lives assured, their dates of birth, and completed applications.
- 2.Medical underwriting, and financial evidence for larger sums assured.
- 3.The trust deed, and the liability figure from the client’s advisers.
Questions
What brokers ask us about this product
Why write the plan in trust?
So the proceeds are paid to trustees rather than into the estate, which means they are not themselves part of the estate and can be reached quickly. Writing it in trust at outset avoids a later assignment.
Are the premiums really fixed for life?
Yes, for as long as premiums are paid. That guarantee is the difference between this plan and the Flexible Life Plan, and it is what the higher premium buys.
What does indexation do?
It increases the sum assured, and the premium with it, on the basis set at outset — so a policy taken out against a liability of £400,000 does not become inadequate as the estate grows.
Request information
Ask us about the Whole of Life Plan
The form reaches an underwriter in Dublin. If you are an intermediary, say so and we will route it to the broker desk.