§ 6108. Designation of beneficiaries of insurance or employee death benefits not testamentary.
(a) In general.--The designation of beneficiaries of life insurance, annuity or endowment contracts,
or of any agreement entered into by an insurance company in connection therewith,
supplemental thereto or in settlement thereof, and the designation of beneficiaries
of benefits payable upon or after the death of a participant under any pension, bonus,
profit-sharing, retirement annuity, or other employee-benefit plan, shall not be considered
testamentary and shall not be subject to any law governing the transfer of property
by will. This section shall apply regardless of whether the insurance contract or
the employee-benefit plan designates the ultimate beneficiaries or makes the proceeds
payable, directly or indirectly, to a trustee of a trust under a will or under a separate
trust instrument which designates the ultimate beneficiaries, and regardless of whether
any such trust is amendable or revocable, or both, or is funded or unfunded, and notwithstanding
a reservation to the settlor of all rights of ownership in the insurance contracts
or under the employee-benefit plans. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the conveyance,
funds or other property so passing to a trust under a will shall become and be a part
of the testamentary trust to be administered and disposed of in accordance with the
provisions thereof, without forming any part of the testator's estate for administration
by his personal representative.
(b) Applicability.--The provisions of subsection (a) of this section relating to the designation of beneficiaries
of benefits payable under employee-benefit plans shall apply to designations made
prior or subsequent to January 1, 1970, by persons who die on or after said date,
and shall not be deemed to create any implication of invalidity of any such designation
made by any person who dies before said date.
Notes of Decisions
Est. of Donald T Schaefer, Appeal of Gartner, D., 300 A.3d 1013 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2023).
· cites it 2× “e that decision being an evenly decided per curiam result, the case stands for the proposition ‘‘that the beneficiaries of an insurance policy could not be changed by a will”, Justice Saylor explained, “[t]o allow modification of non-testamentary contractual assets by…”
In re Est. of Sauers, 32 A.3d 1241 (Pa. 2011).
“To that end, Ex-Spouse contends that, under 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a), who is and who is not designed a beneficiary of life insurance or an employee-benefit plan “shall not be considered testamentary and shall not be subject to any law governing the transfer of property by will_”…”
Alkhafaji v. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Servs., LLC, 69 A.3d 219 (Pa. 2013).
· cites it 2× “To allow modification of non-testamentary contractual assets by testamentary documents blurs the timeless and very practical distinction between the two, notably set forth in 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108. 1 Allowing contract *224 notice requirements to be ignored based on the lack of a…”
Est. of Korn, 480 A.2d 1233 (Pa. 1984).
· cites it 2× “Nor could the designation have any "testamentary operation," for 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a) provides in part that: [t]he designation of beneficiaries of life insurance, annuity or endowment contracts, or of any agreement entered into by an insurance company in connection therewith,…”
Est. of Thomas, 39 Pa. D. & C.5th 103 (2014).
· cites it 2× “The respondent also misrepresents the significance of 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108 as to the designation of insurance policy beneficiaries as not being testamentary.”
Goodwin, J. v. Goodwin, S., 2020 Pa. Super. 284 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2020).
“See 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a). I further agree that the life insurance proceeds themselves were not a “gift,” for the reasons cited by the trial court: Son could not have gifted the proceeds to anyone because “the funds were never in [his] possession.”
Est. of Richard L. Michael (Pa. Super. Ct. 2022).
“Appellant’s Brief at 14 (quoting 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a) (emphasis added)). She interprets section 6108 to mean that “all such funds … pass to the designated beneficiary outside of probate, and said funds are not testamentary, i.”
Goodwin, J. v. Goodwin, S., Aplt. (Pa. 2022).
“have honored the intent of the giver and 3 Section 6108(a) of the PEF Code, 20 Pa. C.S. § 6108(a), provides, in relevant part, that “[t]he designation of beneficiaries of life insurance[] .”
Goodwin, J. v. Goodwin, S., 244 A.3d 453 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2020).
“See 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a). I further agree that the life insurance proceeds themselves were not a “gift,” for the reasons cited by the trial court: Son could not have gifted the proceeds to anyone because “the funds were never in [his] possession.”
— 20 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6108(a) — 7 cases
In re Est. of Sauers, 32 A.3d 1241 (Pa. 2011).
“To that end, Ex-Spouse contends that, under 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a), who is and who is not designed a beneficiary of life insurance or an employee-benefit plan “shall not be considered testamentary and shall not be subject to any law governing the transfer of property by will_”…”
Est. of Korn, 480 A.2d 1233 (Pa. 1984).
“Nor could the designation have any "testamentary operation," for 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a) provides in part that: [t]he designation of beneficiaries of life insurance, annuity or endowment contracts, or of any agreement entered into by an insurance company in connection therewith,…”
Alkhafaji v. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Servs., LLC, 69 A.3d 219 (Pa. 2013).
“To allow modification of non-testamentary contractual assets by testamentary documents blurs the timeless and very practical distinction between the two, notably set forth in 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108. 1 Allowing contract *224 notice requirements to be ignored based on the lack of a…”
Goodwin, J. v. Goodwin, S., 2020 Pa. Super. 284 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2020).
“See 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a). I further agree that the life insurance proceeds themselves were not a “gift,” for the reasons cited by the trial court: Son could not have gifted the proceeds to anyone because “the funds were never in [his] possession.”
Est. of Richard L. Michael (Pa. Super. Ct. 2022).
“Appellant’s Brief at 14 (quoting 20 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a) (emphasis added)). She interprets section 6108 to mean that “all such funds … pass to the designated beneficiary outside of probate, and said funds are not testamentary, i.”
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