MWP Act in LIC Policies

Married Women’s Property (MWP) Act Policies

Section 6 of the Married Women’s Property Act 1874 (MWP Act) provides that a policy of insurance effected by any married man on his own life and expressed on the face of it to be for the benefit of his wife, his wife & children, or any of them, shall be deemed to be a trust for benefit of his wife, his wife and children, or any if them, according to the interests expressed, and shall not, so long as any object of the trust remains, be subject to the control of the life insured, or his creditors, or form part of his estate.

Under this provision, a married man, which includes a widower or a divorced man, can make a financial arrangement for the benefit of this wife and children, which includes his sons and daughters, both natural and adopted. The policy must be on his own life. The beneficiaries can be

(a)        the Wife alone

(b)        Any one or more children

(c)        the wife and any one or more children jointly.

The beneficiaries must be existing on the date of the policy and must be named. If two or more beneficiaries are named, the respective shares of the different beneficiaries should be stated.

To effect an assurance under the MWP Act, one is required to complete an addendum, stating the beneficiaries and the trustees. He may reserve the power to revoke the appointment of trustees and appoint new ones.

The life assured does not have any right to deal with the policy. Alterations cannot be made. It cannot be surrendered. The Claim will be paid to the trustees.