Who owns an individual life policy?

• A. The insurer.
• B. The policy owner is the person who purchased the policy.
• C. The employer.
• D. The beneficiary.

Answer: (B)

Ownership in an individual life policy is about who holds the rights to the contract. The policy owner is the person who bought the policy and who controls it—paying premiums, naming or changing beneficiaries, borrowing against cash value, and deciding whether to surrender or assign the policy. The insured is the person whose life is covered, and they can be the owner, but not necessarily. The beneficiary receives the death benefit, not the ownership rights, unless ownership is transferred to them. The insurer simply issues the policy and has no ownership rights. So the owner is the person who purchased the policy.