Maeve is an Ontario resident. Fifteen years ago, she purchased a $250,000 whole life insurance policy and named her husband Guillaume as the primary…

In Ontario, and other common-law provinces, divorce does not automatically revoke a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy. The designation remains valid until the policyowner formally changes it. Since Maeve named her then-husband Guillaume as the primary beneficiary and has not updated the designation since their divorce, he remains the legal recipient of the death benefit. The insurance company is contractually obligated to pay the proceeds to the beneficiary of record at the time of the insured's death. Maeve's new relationship with Eduardo is irrelevant without a formal change in the policy's beneficiary designation.

B. Edwin: Edwin is the contingent beneficiary; he would only receive the proceeds if the primary beneficiary, Guillaume, had predeceased Maeve.
C. Eduardo: Eduardo has no legal claim to the death benefit because he was never formally named as a beneficiary on the policy.
D. Maeve’s estate: The death benefit is paid to the estate only when there is no living named beneficiary. Guillaume is the living, named primary beneficiary.

1. IFSE Institute, Life Insurance (LLQP) Course, Module 6: The Policy - Beneficiaries, Section 6.4: Changing the Beneficiary. This section details that life events such as divorce do not automatically alter a beneficiary designation; a formal change by the policyowner is required.

2. Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, s. 191(2). This section of the Ontario statute explicitly states that a designation in favour of a spouse is not revoked by the dissolution of the marriage, confirming that the designation of Guillaume remains in effect despite the divorce.

3. Wilson, S. R. (2021). The Law of Life Insurance in Canada. LexisNexis Canada. Chapter 7: The Beneficiary. This academic legal text confirms that under common law, a change in marital status does not, by itself, affect the rights of a named beneficiary under a life insurance contract. A specific action by the policyowner is necessary to alter the designation.