Who Gets Life Insurance If Beneficiary Is Deceased? 
Life insurance policies allow you to name one or more Primary Beneficiaries , and one or more Contingent -LRB- Secondary -RRB- Beneficiaries . If there is only one Primary Beneficiary named and that person is deceased , the policy proceeds go to the Contingent Beneficiary . If there is more than one Primary Beneficiary and one of them is deceased , the death benefit will be paid to the remaining Primary Beneficiary or Beneficiaries . If all Beneficiaries are deceased at the time that the Insured passes away , the life insurance proceeds are paid to the estate of the Insured and distributed according to his/her will . If there is no will , the state distributes them according to their intestate succession rules . No doubt there are some exceptions to how policies are handled when all Beneficiaries predecease the Insured , but this is the general way it works . 