During an annuity ' s accumulation period, premiums or purchase payments are being accumulated and credited according to the contract ' s terms; annuitization and the systematic payout phase have not yet begun. If the annuity owner or annuitant dies during this period, the contract generally provides a death benefit payable to the designated beneficiary.
The amount payable depends on the particular annuity contract. It may consist of the accumulated contract value, premiums paid less withdrawals, or another amount determined by the contract ' s death-benefit provisions. The fundamental exam principle is that the insurer does not simply retain the accumulated value because the annuitant died before annuitization.
Payment to an estate may occur when the estate is itself the designated beneficiary or when no effective beneficiary designation exists, but that is not the normal result when a beneficiary has been properly named. The IRS does not receive the cash value as the death-benefit recipient, although the beneficiary may have income-tax consequences associated with the gain contained within an inherited nonqualified annuity.
Therefore, among the stated choices, payment to the beneficiary is correct.
Study Guide Reference: Annuities — accumulation and annuity periods; death before annuitization; beneficiary provisions; annuity death benefits.
