MetLife: 28% Of Young Widows, Widowers Get Adequate Death Benefits

October 09, 2003 at 08:00 PM
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NU Online News Service, Oct. 9, 2003, 3:04 p.m. EST – Only 28% of young widows and young widowers say they received adequate life insurance benefits when their spouses died, according to survey results released by MetLife Inc., New York.

Researchers surveyed 1,000 widows and widowers for MetLife in August. All of the survey participants had lost their spouses six months to five years earlier, and all of the deceased spouses were between age 30 and age 55 when they died.

Only 61% of the spouses received any life insurance proceeds, and only one-fifth of survey participants received proceeds greater than three times the annual income of the deceased, MetLife says.

Forty-six percent of the participants who received life insurance benefits said the benefits were adequate, although only 33% of the participants who received death benefits received proceeds greater than three times the annual income of the deceased.

Forty-six percent of the spouses died without leaving wills.

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