Ariz. Rev. Stat. » Title 20
Arizona Revised Statutes

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-1104 (2026)

Insurable interest with respect to personal insurance; definition

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. Any individual of competent legal capacity may procure or effect an insurance contract on his own life or body for the benefit of any person.  But no person shall procure or cause to be procured any insurance contract on the life or body of another individual unless the benefits under such contract are payable to the individual insured or his personal representatives, or to a person having, at the time when the contract was made, an insurable interest in the individual insured.

B. If the beneficiary, assignee or other payee under any contract made in violation of this section receives from the insurer any benefits thereunder accruing on the death, disablement or injury of the individual insured, the individual insured or his executor or administrator, as the case may be, may maintain an action to recover such benefits from the person so receiving them.

C. "Insurable interest" with reference to personal insurance includes only interests as follows:

1. In the case of individuals related closely by blood or by law, a substantial interest engendered by love and affection.

2. In the case of other persons, a lawful and substantial economic interest in having the life, health or bodily safety of the individual insured continue, as distinguished from an interest which would arise only by, or would be enhanced in value by, the death, disablement or injury of the individual insured.

3. An individual party to a contract or option for the purchase or sale of an interest in a business partnership or firm, or of shares of stock of a closed corporation or of an interest in the shares, has an insurable interest in the life of each individual party to the contract and for the purposes of the contract only, in addition to any insurable interest which may otherwise exist as to the life of the individual.

4. A charitable organization as provided in section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, which has a policy ownership interest has an insurable interest in the life of each proposed insured who joins with the charitable organization in applying for a life insurance policy naming the charitable organization as owner and irrevocable beneficiary.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1990–2024 · leading case: First Penn-Pac. Life Ins. v. Evans, 313 F. App'x 633 (4th Cir. 2009).
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First Penn-Pac. Life Ins. v. Evans, 313 F. App'x 633 (4th Cir. 2009). · cites it 2× “” Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 20-1104 (2002). In contrast, an individual without “any reasonable expectation of pecuniary benefit or advantage from the continued life” of an unrelated person may not insure that life; this constitutes a pure “wager policy” and is void as a contract…”
Steiniger v. Marmis, 800 P.2d 975 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “Under A.R.S. § 20-1104(C)(2), one has an insurable interest in the life of an unrelated person if he has “a lawful and substantial economic interest in having the life .”
Columbus Life Ins. v. Wilmington Trust Na (Ariz. 2023). · cites it 7× “These terms underscore that § 20-1104 does not render the policy void ab initio but provides an after-the-fact remedy to the insured.”
McKee v. Penick (In re Al Zuni Trading, Inc.), 947 F.2d 1403 (9th Cir. 1991). · cites it 2× “Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 20-1104(A) (1990) (emphasis added).”
Columbus Life Ins. Co. v. Wilmington Trust NA (D. Ariz. 2022). · cites it 4× “” A.R.S. § 20-1104(A). There is 5 reason to believe that the Policy in this matter violates this statute and general public policy.”
Columbus Life Ins. Co. v. Wilmington Trust NA (D. Ariz. 2024). “10 § 20-1104. Wilmington filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings asserting that 11 Columbus’s claim was barred by Arizona’s two-year contestability statute as well as the 12 policy’s contestability clause.”
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-1104(A) — 3 cases
Columbus Life Ins. Co. v. Wilmington Trust NA (D. Ariz. 2022). “” A.R.S. § 20-1104(A). There is 5 reason to believe that the Policy in this matter violates this statute and general public policy.”
Columbus Life Ins. v. Wilmington Trust Na (Ariz. 2023). “These terms underscore that § 20-1104 does not render the policy void ab initio but provides an after-the-fact remedy to the insured.”
McKee v. Penick (In re Al Zuni Trading, Inc.), 947 F.2d 1403 (9th Cir. 1991). “Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 20-1104(A) (1990) (emphasis added).”
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-1104(B) — 2 cases
Columbus Life Ins. v. Wilmington Trust Na (Ariz. 2023). “These terms underscore that § 20-1104 does not render the policy void ab initio but provides an after-the-fact remedy to the insured.”
McKee v. Penick (In re Al Zuni Trading, Inc.), 947 F.2d 1403 (9th Cir. 1991). “Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 20-1104(A) (1990) (emphasis added).”
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-1104(C)(2) — 1 case
Steiniger v. Marmis, 800 P.2d 975 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1990). “Under A.R.S. § 20-1104(C)(2), one has an insurable interest in the life of an unrelated person if he has “a lawful and substantial economic interest in having the life .”
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