Let’s say that you and your spouse both have life insurance policies of $500,000 on each other and have no children. Each spouse is named as the primary beneficiary on the other’s policies, and the contingent beneficiaries are a brother and a niece. The issue that’s often raised, is whether the brother and the niece would be subject to the inheritance tax, if they received the proceeds.
Life insurance—when paid to a named beneficiary or a trust for the benefit of a named beneficiary—is a specific asset that’s exempt from New Jersey’s inheritance tax, despite the relationship of the beneficiary to the decedent.
If the life insurance was left to the owner’s estate, and the estate was passed to the brother and niece under the will, it wouldn’t be exempt from the inheritance tax. It wouldn’t matter that the brother and niece were named as contingent beneficiaries on the life insurance policies, so long as they were named as beneficiaries on the policy and wouldn’t be taking the proceeds as beneficiaries under the will.
The New Jersey inheritance tax is imposed on certain bequests based on the relationship between the deceased and the beneficiary, and the value and nature of the asset transferred. The tax is also levied on transfers within three years of death.
There is no inheritance tax imposed, if the beneficiary is a spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, grandparent, parent, descendant, stepchild of the decedent, or a charity. If the beneficiary is in one of these categories, the value or nature of the bequest doesn’t matter. If the beneficiary does not fall within one of these categories, then the relationship to the beneficiary and the value or nature of the bequest will be considered to see if there is an inheritance tax.
Transfers to a sibling, son-in-law or daughter-in-law (“Class C” beneficiaries) aren’t taxable up to the first $25,000. Transfers in excess of that to $1.1 million are taxable at 11%. Transfers in excess of $1.1 million and up to $1.4 million are taxed at 13%, and transfers over $1.4 million up to $1.7 million are taxed at 14%. Any larger transfers are taxed at 16%.
All other beneficiaries are referred to as “Class D” beneficiaries. Transfers to these beneficiaries are taxed at 15% if the value is greater than $500 up to $700,000 and at 16 % for anything valued higher. In addition to life insurance paid directly to a named beneficiary, certain other assets, like public employee benefits are exempt from the tax.
Reference: nj.com (March 26, 2018) “Do the beneficiaries of life insurance have to pay inheritance tax?”
Kyle Robbins
Kyle Robbins is the founder and sole owner of The Law
Offices of Kyle Robbins. He received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.S. in Food Chemistry and Microbiology from Oklahoma State University.
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