• Understanding Arizona's life insurance laws can help to better protect you and your family.family image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
  
  If you die without life insurance, your family could be exposed to some serious financial burdens. Specifically, any debts that you leave behind could be inherited by your surviving spouse or children. To prevent this, you want to make sure that you purchase enough life insurance to cover all of your financial liabilities. Since each state's laws differ in terms of regulation of life insurance, make sure you understand your state's laws.
  
  

Grace Period

• Arizona's laws under Title 20 of the Arizona Revised Statutes allows a 30-day grace period for the late payment of premiums. This means that if you miss your life insurance premium due date, you will have up to 30 days to make the normal premium payment with no penalty. If you fail to make the premium payment within this time period, the insurance company can terminate your life insurance policy.
  
  

Death Claims

• Life insurance companies have up to 60 days to pay a death claim once you have provided proof of death to the insurance company. This is done by filling out a death claim form and mailing it, along with a copy of the death certificate, to the insurance company. If the company does not pay the claim within two months, you may begin to collect interest on the face amount of insurance you should have received but did not until the claim is paid.
  
  

Disclosure of Informatin

• Arizona law prohibits insurance companies from disclosing personal or privileged information in connection with an insurance application to any third parties unless permission is given by the applicant to do so.
  
  

Arizona Guarantee Organization

• Life insurance companies in Arizona are required to pay into a state guarantee fund that is designed to protect policyholders from insurance company defaults. The fund is state run and is called the Arizona Life and Disability Insurance Guaranty Fund. Protection of death benefits is limited to $300,000 and cash value protection is limited to $100,000 per individual.