This is a basic text on the legal aspects of life insurance. Eleven of the chapters are a reprint of the legal material from the 1994 edition of McGill’s Life Insurance. These 11 chapters have been supplemented with six new chapters on legal topics not covered in McGill’s Life Insurance. Chapter 18 addresses procedural and emotional issues concerning death and dying, while chapter 19, the final chapter, is a collection of short essays reprinted from The Best of Strictly Speaking, readings on ethics from the Journal of the American Society of CLU & ChFC. The result is a concise and readable book of which we are proud.

We wish to thank Lynn Hayes for her excellent editorial help and Margaret Terrell-Reeves for her production assistance and day-to-day monitoring of the project and all its related manuscripts. They were both instrumental in completing this book. In addition, Bruce Worsham deserves credit for making this a separate volume rather than part of a massive 1,200-page edition of McGill’s Life Insurance.

Finally, this book would not have been possible without the pioneering work of Dr. Solomon Stephen Huebner and Dr. Dan M. McGill.

Every attempt has been made to ensure that this volume is accurate and up-to-date. Since we have full confidence in Murphy’s law and expect that you will find some errors or shortcomings, we would appreciate your critical reactions and suggestions for improvement. With your help we can make future editions of this book even better.