Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, § 123 (2026)

Application for issuance of policy of life or endowment insurance; change of designation of beneficiary

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 123. No life company shall issue any policy of life or endowment insurance in this commonwealth except upon a written application therefor signed or assented to in writing by the person to be insured; provided, that such a company may issue a policy on the life of a minor under the age of fifteen on an application signed by the parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of such minor; and provided, further, that such a company may issue a single policy on the lives of any two or more members of a family on an application signed by either parent, a step-parent, or by a husband or wife. For the purposes of this paragraph members of a family shall mean husband, wife, children, adopted children, or step-children.

No life insurance company shall accept or take action on any written request to change the designation of beneficiary under any policy of life or endowment insurance unless the signature of the person requesting the change is witnessed by a disinterested person. For purposes of this section, a disinterested person is one who is over eighteen years of age and not designated as a beneficiary in the requested change. Upon receipt and acceptance of the change of designation of beneficiary, the insurance company shall provide written notice of the change to the insured at the owner's last known address.

This section shall not apply to contracts based upon the continuance of life, such as annuity or pure endowment contracts, whether or not they embody an agreement to refund, upon the death of the holder, to his estate or to a specified payee, any sum not exceeding the premiums paid thereon with compound interest, nor shall it apply to contracts of group life insurance.

Any company violating this section, or any officer, agent or other person soliciting or effecting, or attempting to effect, a contract of insurance contrary to the provisions hereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1927–2015 · leading case: Cannon v. Cannon, 868 N.E.2d 636 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007).

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Cannon v. Cannon, 868 N.E.2d 636 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007). · cites it 8× “On Marie’s motion for summary judgment, a judge of the Superior Court ruled that Marie had no contractual obligation to share the proceeds because she had completed her obligation to Douglas by signing the beneficiary designation, and Douglas failed to effectuate the change by…”

Cleary v. Cleary, 692 N.E.2d 955 (Mass. 1998). · cites it 3× “First, the plaintiff argues that the judge improperly allocated the burden of proof to him on this claim.”

Attorney Gen. v. Desilets, 636 N.E.2d 233 (Mass. 1994). · cites it 2× “) (extent of family coverage under motor vehicle insurance policy limited to insured, insured's spouse, and unmarried dependent children under twenty-three years of age); G.L.c. 175, § 123 (1992 ed.) (for purposes of section dealing with restrictions on issuance of life…”

Prot. Life Ins. v. Sullivan, 682 N.E.2d 624 (Mass. 1997). “Later, in 1943, the Legislature once again permitted life insurance policies to issue without a medical examination, but only for policies for $5,000 or less, see G. L. c. 175, § 123, as appearing in St. 1943, c.”

Commonwealth v. Packer, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 585 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015). · cites it 2× “244, § 10 (mandated notification of "other person[s] having custody or control of a minor child" where the minor is treated for drug or alcohol overdose); G. L. c. 175, § 123 (stepparents are authorized to include stepchildren as insured family members on joint life insurance…”

Arcieri v. New York Life Ins., 63 F. Supp. 3d 159 (D. Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “176D because the Commissioner of Insurance has exclusive authority to enforce those statutes.”

Carroll v. Metro. Life Ins., 154 N.E. 757 (Mass. 1927). “aintiff contends that the evidence as to the intestate’s health, or lack of it, before the policy was issued is impertinent in respect to the purposes of the bill of exceptions, whether the evidence is viewed in its bearing upon the question as to health or on the question…”

Carduff v. Boston Mut. Life Ins., 1 Mass. App. Div. 580 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1936). “The signing of the insured’s name by the plaintiff "without anything to show if the application was signed by the insured herself, is not a compliance of G. L. c. 175, §123. “The company issuing the contract has a right to know who signed the contract, otherwise the doors would…”

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