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Term Life Insurance for my sister and me?

Can I buy a term life insurance policy on my sister and name myself as beneficiary without telling her about the policy? Her son, my only nephew, would be 2nd beneficiary should I die first. I plan to do the same thing for myself, naming my sister as 1st beneficiary. Nothing sinister here at all. We are the only 3 surviving relatives and we have no funeral coverage or death benefits of any sort.

Public Comments

1. Generally speaking: no, because no insurance company is going to issue an individual life insurance policy without a physical exam of the person they're insuring. Remember, life insurance is a financial tool to protect someone against a loss of income. If you aren't relying on your sister's income for food & shelter, then you don't need life insurance on her. It would be a good idea for her to have life insurance on herself with her son as the beneficiary though. Funerals don't cost that much. You can give someone a respectable burial for $10k. If you want a small policy to cover that, then go ahead and get one, but if you're in good financial shape you'd be able to work your way through an expense like that if you had to.
2. No, you cannot. Her concurrence would be required. If there's "nothing sinister here," why can't you ask her?
3. Yes, you can buy a policy on her life, but ONLY with her permission and consent. That means, she needs to sign off on the forms, release her medical records to the insurance company, and submit to a medical exam.
4. You can, but it's expensive. Just get her to sign off on it. And, if she doesn't want to do blood work, then just do a no exam policy. BUT, if you want cheap, you want a plan she consents to AND gives blood/urine for.