death benefit

Definition of death benefit

: money payable to the beneficiary of a deceased

Examples of death benefit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web If a federal judge were to eventually rule that Robert Kalosky isn’t eligible to receive the death benefit then either his son, Phillip T. Kalosky, or Sandra Kalosky’s surviving sisters, Barbara Kaluza or Janet Guerrini, could be beneficiaries. — Dave Altimari, courant.com, "Judge rules East Haddam man won’t get murdered wife’s life insurance policy even though no one has been charged in her death," 14 Oct. 2019 Term life policies, which generally expire after 10 to 20 years, offer no death benefit or payout at the end, as opposed to whole life policies, which do. — Ed Leefeldt, CBS News, "Vapers – like smokers – may now have to pay more for life insurance," 10 Oct. 2019 Those departments, and states, also provide financial assistance to spouses and families, including death benefits, health insurance and scholarships. — NBC News, "When a police officer dies by suicide, what help does the spouse get?," 21 Oct. 2019 Kemia Hassel and Cuellar reportedly were lovers and plotted the murder to collect Army death benefits and life insurance money. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Man gets at least 65 years in Michigan soldier’s slaying," 24 Sep. 2019 Court records obtained by Sports Illustrated show that the NBPA owed approximately $184,000 as a death benefit. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "Revisiting Details of the Lorenzen Wright Case and Questions That Remain," 29 July 2019 Lopez says the widows and their families are being denied death benefits at an alarming rate. — Fox News, "Jon Stewart sets his sights on helping burn pit vets with new PSA," 13 Sep. 2019 The policies, known as universal life insurance, where sold in the 1990s and include both a death benefit and investments accounts that guaranteed interest rates up to 5%. — Jacquie Mcnish, WSJ, "Canadian Insurers Win Court Battle Over Investment Strategy," 18 Mar. 2019 Over 6,000 donors, businesses and foundations also contributed to the Capital Gazette Families Fund, which has been applied to death benefits, victims who were injured in the shooting and some other Capital Gazette employees. — Juliana Kim, chicagotribune.com, "Memorials, company-wide moment of silence planned to mark 1 year since Capital Gazette slayings," 26 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'death benefit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

27 Nov 2019

Cite this Entry

“Death benefit.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death%20benefit. Accessed 16 December 2019.

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More Definitions for death benefit

death benefit

noun

Financial Definition of death benefit

What It Is

A death benefit is a payment to the beneficiary on an annuity, pension, or life insurance policy upon the death of the annuitant or policyholder.

How It Works

Also called a survivor benefit, a death benefit may come in the form of a one-time payment on a life insurance policy or in a series of income payments that are a percentage of those granted to the annuitant prior to death. For instance, as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy, a surviving spouse will be entitled to a one-time monetary payment upon the death of the other spouse as specified in the policy. Likewise, upon the death of an annuity holder, the beneficiary will receive ongoing annuity payments at a percentage of those received by the annuitant.

Why It Matters

Death benefits are the way in which annuities and life insurance policies compensate those close to or dependent upon the deceased policyholder for the costs associated with death (e.g. funeral expenses) and potential loss of income.

Source: Investing Answers

death benefit

noun

English Language Learners Definition of death benefit

: money that an insurance company pays to the family of someone who has died because that person had life insurance

See the full definition for death benefit in the English Language Learners Dictionary

death benefit

noun

Legal Definition of death benefit

: money payable to the beneficiary of a deceased as a benefit (as under a policy of life or accident insurance or a pension plan)

Note: The right to death benefits is generally terminated in cases of fraud, as when an insured commits suicide after purchasing a policy or when the beneficiary murders the insured.