Integrity Life
Subsidiary of Western & Southern Financial Group
westernsouthern.com/distributors/about/integrity-companiesWhat to do when an Integrity Life account holder dies
Report the death to Integrity Life's Annuity Claims at 1-800-325-8583
Filing a death claim on a Integrity Life policy begins with notifying the Annuity Claims at 1-800-325-8583. Life insurance claims are separate from probate—proceeds transfer directly to named beneficiaries regardless of whether the estate goes through court. The timeline and documentation requirements depend on the policy type and cause of death.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Integrity Life works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Give the deceased person's name, date of death, and contract number if you have it
- Say whether the deceased was the annuitant or the owner; which death triggers the benefit differs by product
- Where the owner and annuitant are different people, the contract may have a separate owner's beneficiary who takes control of the contract rather than receiving a death benefit
- Confirm which company issued the contract. Integrity Life covers DC and all states except New York; National Integrity is disclosed as operating in ME, NH, NY, RI and VT
- It reports the owner's death so the successor owner can be recognized
- Send it "along with the proper New Business paperwork," because the election opens a new contract
- It is submitted with proof of death and lets a named successor owner be recognized
- Completed Integrity death claim forms
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for each beneficiary
- Trust name page, trustee/successor-trustee page, and signature page if a trust is the beneficiary
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration if proceeds are payable to the estate, plus the Final Order of Distribution where a probate court has already awarded the contract
- Beneficiary Required Distribution Election Form (IL-77-31045) plus New Business paperwork if electing a stretch or Non-Qualified Extended payout
- Election of Annuitization (IL-00-1943) if electing an income option
Required Documents
- Completed Integrity death claim formsIssued by Client Services on notification of the death.
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for each claiming beneficiary
- Trust name page, trustee and successor-trustee page, and signature page, if a trust is the beneficiaryIntegrity does not read or rely on the trust's terms and is "fully discharged from all liability after payment of the death benefit proceeds under the contract to the trustee".
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if the contract is payable to the estate, or the owner's beneficiary is unclearFrom the probate court.
- Final Order of Distribution or other such documents, where a probate court has awarded the contract through an estateThe National Integrity owner-death form asks whether an estate has been filed in probate court.
- Notification of Death of Owner (NI-398-LF), for a National Integrity (New York) contract where the owner died
- Beneficiary Required Distribution Election Form (IL-77-31045) and New Business paperwork, only if electing an Inherited (Stretch) IRA or a Non-Qualified Extended payout
- Election of Annuitization (IL-00-1943), only if electing an income option
Forms Integrity Life issues4
- Integrity Life annuity death claim packet
Sent by the institution on request.1
- Notification of Death of Owner (NI-398-LF), National Integrity contracts
Available to download.2
- Election of Annuitization (IL-00-1943)
Available to download.3
- Beneficiary Required Distribution Election Form (IL-77-31045)
Available to download.4
What happens to each kind of account1
- Annuity
New Momentum pays on the annuitant's death during the deferral period, and MultiVantage and Indextra on the owner's death, at the value on the date the claim is processed (Indextra: the greater of account or nonforfeiture value). SPDA Series II pays the account value when proof of the annuitant's death is received.1
IncomeSource has "no cash value, no death benefit": a survivor gets only remaining certain payouts, cashable by a Deceased Annuitant Commutation rider elected at issue. IncomeSource Select pays before the Income Date only under an elected Return of Premium Death Benefit, to a living owner first, then the beneficiary.1
On both stretch tracks "no additional contribution can be made," "you cannot transfer or assign the contract," and "any optional GLWB Rider offered under a product is not available on your contract".4
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- National Integrity Life Insurance Company
New York contracts, from the same Cincinnati service center; disclosed as operating in ME, NH, NY, RI and VT1
Phone: 1-800-433-1778
What Integrity Life's agreement and guidance say2
- How proceeds are paid
Integrity pays annuity death proceeds directly to the beneficiary without probate, and applies no withdrawal charge or market value adjustment to the death benefit. Monthly payouts below $100.00 are converted to a lump sum.1
A restriction cannot violate a distribution requirement at law; where it would, the beneficiary may elect a complying form of payment. A surviving spouse beneficiary may have the right to re-register the contract as owner regardless of the restriction the deceased elected.1
An owner may restrict the payout on the beneficiary designation form. A full restriction puts the whole benefit into a life annuity, a life annuity with 10 or 20 years guaranteed, or a period of 8 to 20 years; a partial restriction caps the lump sum, with the rest applied to the elected annuity option.5
The Inherited (Stretch) IRA and Inherited (Stretch) Roth IRA are "available for all products except IncomeSource Select," for eligible designated beneficiaries only. The form notes "a minor child is an Eligible Designated Beneficiary but is currently not supported for New Business".4
Non-Qualified Extended "is only available for AnnuiQuest, SPDA Series II, IncomeSource, Indextra, and JourneyMark Contracts." The beneficiary "must have made your election to receive stretch payments of the death benefit within 60 days from the time the benefit was payable to you".4
- What it says about taxes
The election form says that after a surrender or partial withdrawal "your payments will no longer be taxed as amounts received as an annuity; instead you will receive the gain first and be taxed first on all of the gain remaining in the contract".4
Not in Integrity Life's published guidance1
- How long a claim takes
Integrity Life's Annuity Claims can be reached by phone at 1-800-325-8583, email at service@integritycompanies.com, and fax at 1-888-220-2677 for questions throughout the claims process.
Sources
Data sourced from Integrity Life primary sources (18 pages reviewed). How we research.
Integrity Life death claims support
Annuity Claims (Client Services)
Phone
National Integrity Life (New York contracts)
Express / certified delivery
Fax
Mailing address
Website
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