Life insurance for attorneys
For partners, this stops being a household decision.
Attorneys are generally straightforward to underwrite. The complications are structural rather than medical, and they arrive with partnership.
If you're an associate, the questions are the ordinary ones. If you're a partner, the firm has an interest in this too.
If you're an associate
- Firm group coverage amount, and whether it's a base salary multiple
- Private law school debt, and who co-signed it — federal loans are discharged on death, private loans follow their contracts
- Whether coverage is portable if you move firms
- Term coverage sized to mortgage and dependent years, with a conversion privilege
If you're a partner
Partnership introduces obligations that don't go away when you do: a capital account to be repaid, an interest to be bought out, and possibly guarantees on firm obligations.
The partnership agreement usually says what happens on a partner's death. Read that section before deciding what coverage you need — it defines the problem.
Buy-sell funding
A buy-sell agreement without funding is an obligation without money behind it. Life insurance is the usual funding mechanism, and how it's structured has real consequences.
- Cross-purchase — each partner owns policies on the others
- Entity purchase — the firm owns policies on the partners
- Hybrid arrangements, and trusteed structures for larger partnerships
- Whether the coverage amount still matches current valuations
The review nobody schedules
Buy-sell coverage is frequently set at a valuation from years ago and never revisited. A firm that has doubled in value has a buy-sell funded at half of what it needs.
Put a valuation and coverage review on an annual calendar. This is the most common failure in these arrangements.
Personal guarantees
Check what you've personally guaranteed — office leases, lines of credit, equipment financing. Those obligations may survive you and land on your estate or family.
That figure belongs in the coverage calculation, and it's usually missing from it.
Common questions
The partnership agreement governs it — capital account repayment, buyout terms, and timing. Read that section first, because it defines how much coverage the situation actually needs.
Both are used and the choice has tax and administrative consequences that depend on the firm's structure and number of partners. This is a question for the firm's counsel and accountant, not a website.
Federal student loans are. Private loans follow their own contracts, and a co-signer may remain liable depending on the loan and state.
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This page is general information, not advice about your specific circumstances. A licensed insurance professional can tell you what’s actually available to you.
General information only, not insurance advice. Coverage, availability, and terms vary by insurer and by state, and are subject to underwriting. Quote My Policy LLC is a licensed insurance producer. Nothing here binds coverage.