BUSINESS PROTECTION · DFW · TEXAS · 40 STATES
Key person life insurance for business continuity
Start with the role your business relies on and the transition expenses you want to plan for after a covered death. Review available resources, then use the worksheet to prepare your questions.
Licensed in 40 States
Why Golden Years Protection
At Golden Years Protection, I help you organize questions about key person life insurance, business continuity needs, and the policy contract.
Use this page to separate transition expenses, available business resources, and questions about ownership and beneficiaries.
Licensed in 40 states · Independent agent, the carriers I work with
I help families, seniors, and business owners compare coverage in one place. No pressure.
Key Person: Planning Basics
Which role creates the exposure?
Key person life insurance addresses a business need tied to the death of an insured owner or employee. Start with the responsibilities your business depends on.
Which role holds important customer relationships, specialized knowledge, or responsibility for ongoing work? What would need to be handed over if that person died? Describe the role for your own planning without entering an employee’s name here.
Sources for key person planning basics: NAIC small-business guidance · OPIC policy basics.
What transition costs could follow?
Consider recruiting and hiring, training and ramp-up, interim coverage or contract help, revenue or project disruption you choose to include, and other transition costs.
Choose the categories that apply to your plan and enter your own figures. These are prompts for discussion, not standard amounts, expected timelines, or a list of expenses a policy promises to reimburse.
Source for hiring, training, and revenue-disruption considerations: III key personnel guidance.
Who owns the policy and receives the benefit?
In the business-owned arrangement described here, the business owns the policy and is named as beneficiary. The insured person is the person whose life the policy covers. Confirm each role in the policy documents before relying on an arrangement.
Source: III ownership guidance. Review the actual policy documents.
Note: not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your specific situation.
How does this differ from personal household coverage?
Business continuity planning asks what the business would need after a death. Personal household planning asks what loved ones would need and who is named to receive the benefit. Keep those needs separate when reviewing existing coverage.
For household questions, explore term life insurance, whole life insurance, or final expense planning.
Sources: III beneficiary guidance · OPIC life insurance basics.
Where do buy-sell funding and loan arrangements fit?
Treat buy-sell funding and loan-collateral arrangements as separate conversations with your attorney and CPA. This page does not value an ownership share, design an ownership transfer, or determine whether an arrangement meets a lender’s requirements.
Keep money or benefits reserved for those purposes out of this continuity worksheet.
Sources for contract review: OPIC policy guidance · TDI life insurance guide · NAIC buyer’s guide. Specific features remain subject to the actual policy.
Note: not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your specific situation.
What contract features and limitations should you review?
Ownership and beneficiary
Check who owns the policy, whose life it covers, and who is named to receive the benefit.
Coverage duration
Term life covers a stated period. Whole life is designed to continue for life when kept in force. Review the actual contract.
Keeping coverage in force
Read the conditions for starting and maintaining coverage. Ask what happens if the policy ends or lapses.
Exclusions and claim provisions
Review exclusions, contestability provisions, and the information required for a claim.
Existing coverage
Review the purpose and terms of existing business coverage before counting any benefit in this worksheet.
Tax questions
Tax treatment depends on the arrangement. Review it with your CPA.
HOW IT WORKS
Three Steps.
Start With the Role and Expenses
Identify the responsibilities you want to plan around. Use the worksheet to organize your own expense and resource figures.
Review Ownership and Policy Questions
I can help you review existing coverage, the proposed owner and beneficiary, and questions about policy terms. Discuss the business arrangement with your attorney and CPA.
Decide Whether to Apply
If you choose to apply, the insurer reviews the application. I can help explain information requests and the insurer’s decision.
PLANNING EXAMPLE
Start With One Role
Choose one role in your business and list the responsibilities that would need attention after that person’s death. Select the transition expenses you want to discuss and enter your own figures. Then identify business resources intended for those same expenses. Review the remaining gap and any amounts you still need to confirm. Keep household needs, buy-sell funding, and loan-collateral questions separate.
This example shows how to organize a discussion. It is not a customer story, a business valuation, or a recommendation to buy coverage.
What does the worksheet help you discuss?
Use the Business Continuity Planning Worksheet below to organize the expenses and resources you choose to include. Review the breakdown and any unanswered questions before discussing insurance.
The result is a discussion figure. It does not recommend coverage or value a person or business.
Business Continuity Planning Worksheet
Select the transition expenses you want to discuss after a covered death and enter your own figures. Then subtract business resources intended for those same expenses. You can use the worksheet without providing contact information.
Check for overlap. Count each expense once, even if it could fit more than one category. Do not subtract the same resource in both fields. Do not count money or benefits already reserved for another need.
Your Continuity Planning Breakdown
Select at least one expense and complete the selected amounts and both resource fields to see the calculation.
The gap equals selected transition expenses minus the two resource amounts. If the result is below zero, the worksheet shows zero.
The gap is a discussion figure based on your entries. It is not a valuation of a person or business, a recommended coverage amount, or an amount any policy must pay.
The worksheet does not determine eligibility, policy availability, claim payment, tax treatment, or whether a business or loan agreement has been satisfied. Actual expenses and available resources may differ from your entries.
The worksheet runs in your browser. Its entries and results are not sent with your quote request. Do not enter business names, employee names, or health information.
Use this breakdown to prepare questions about existing coverage, ownership, beneficiaries, and policy terms. If you want to discuss those questions with me, use the quote form.
Get My Free QuoteI can help you review insurance questions about the role, existing coverage, ownership, beneficiaries, and contract terms. Take legal and tax questions to your attorney and CPA.
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What would you like to discuss next?
Tell me how to contact you and which key person insurance questions you want to discuss.
Have a question about your situation? Get My Free Quote or call 682-254-1786.
KEY PERSON QUESTIONS: HONEST ANSWERS
Frequently Asked Questions
What should Fort Worth business owners prepare for a key person discussion?
Start with the role you depend on, the transition expenses you want to discuss, and resources already intended for those expenses. Have existing policy ownership and beneficiary details available for the conversation. Keep business names, employee names, account numbers, and personal documents out of this worksheet. I can help you organize the insurance questions.
What should Texas business owners check before applying for key person life insurance?
Check the proposed owner, insured person, beneficiary, and policy terms. The insurer reviews an application before deciding whether to offer coverage. Ask what information is needed and what conditions apply before coverage begins. Use your attorney and CPA for questions about the business arrangement. Completing this worksheet does not establish eligibility.
How does key person life insurance differ from personal life insurance for the owner?
The difference starts with the need being addressed and who receives the benefit. Business-owned key person coverage can name the business as beneficiary. Personal household planning considers the people you want to support and the beneficiaries named in that policy. Review those needs separately, and do not count the same benefit toward both plans.
How does this continuity worksheet differ from buy-sell funding?
This worksheet considers transition expenses after a covered death. It does not calculate a business purchase, value an ownership share, or set the terms of an ownership transfer. Treat buy-sell funding and loan-collateral arrangements as separate conversations with your attorney and CPA. Leave resources reserved for those purposes out of this continuity calculation. Note: not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your specific situation.
Who owns a key person policy and receives the benefit?
In the business-owned arrangement described here, the business owns the policy and is named as beneficiary. The insured person is the person whose life the policy covers. Confirm those roles in the policy documents. Review the proposed arrangement and any consent requirements with the insurer, your attorney, and your CPA before applying.
Does the worksheet tell me how much insurance to buy?
No. It subtracts the business resources you enter from the transition expenses you select, with a minimum result of zero. The gap is a discussion figure, not a business valuation, a recommended coverage amount, or an amount any policy must pay. A zero result does not establish that every continuity need has been addressed.
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Sources for the key person FAQs
Planning and existing coverage: NAIC buyer’s guide. Application review: TDI life insurance guide.
Business ownership and consent: III key employee guidance. Beneficiaries: III beneficiary guidance.
Talk Through Your Business Continuity Questions
I can help you review the role, existing coverage, ownership, and questions about the policy contract.