Hanwha Life launches inheritance trust for life insurance proceeds

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Hanwha Life is offering customers a way to manage their life insurance policies after death, with a new trust product for policy claim rights.

The South Korean life insurer said Tuesday the new service lets policyholders arrange in advance how their death benefit payouts will be handled, by entrusting claim rights to the company and specifying how and to whom the proceeds should be distributed.

The product was launched by Hanwha Life’s Inheritance Solution Institute, a research center focused on designing financial and non-financial services for inheritance and gifting.

Through the new trust service, policyholders can map out detailed plans for how their heirs use the benefit — from covering children’s education costs and paying taxes to providing steady living expenses over the long term. They can also designate a trust manager to oversee the plan after their death

The service is expected to be particularly useful for families with members who may need help managing a lump-sum proceeds, such as minors or people with disabilities.

Policies with benefits of more than 30 million won are eligible for entrustment if the beneficiary is a spouse or immediate family member and the policyholder is also the insured and consignor.

Hanwha Life’s move comes as Korea’s financial industry expands inheritance-related offerings, with more people seeking to manage wealth for retirement and support surviving family members post-death as life expectancies extend and the population ages. A regulatory update next month will also let people aged 55 and older access death benefits during their lifetime.

“Hanwha Life is expanding its products and consulting services to deliver comprehensive wealth management beyond insurance,” said an official at the Inheritance Solution Institute. “As more customers face inheritance tax concerns, we will offer inheritance planning through specialized trust consultations at our Financial Advisor Centers nationwide.”