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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2492 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 760 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Barry R. Finegold |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act allowing for the use of an online tool to change life insurance beneficiaries. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Barry R. FinegoldSecond Essex and Middlesex 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2492 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 760 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Finegold, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 760) of Barry R. Finegold for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to allow for the use of an online tool to change life insurance beneficiaries. Financial |
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| 20 | 20 | | Services. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act allowing for the use of an online tool to change life insurance beneficiaries. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Section 123 of chapter 175 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3the following paragraph:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 No life insurance company shall accept or take action on any written request to change |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5the designation of beneficiary under any policy of life or endowment insurance unless the |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6signature of the person requesting the change is witnessed by a disinterested person; provided, |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7however, that it shall not be a violation of this section for a life insurance company to accept or |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8take action on a request submitted without such witness if the person requesting the change |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9utilizes an online tool offered by the life insurance company to request a change of beneficiary; |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10provided further, that prior to accepting or taking action on a request submitted utilizing an |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11online tool as described herein, a life insurance company shall take reasonable steps to verify the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12identity and intention of the person requesting the change; and provided further, that a life 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13insurance company may utilize remote technologies to verify such person’s identity including, |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14but not limited to, phone or videoconference. For purposes of this section, a disinterested person |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15is one who is over 18 years of age and not designated as a beneficiary in the requested change. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16Upon receipt and acceptance of the change of designation of beneficiary, the insurance company |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17shall provide written notice of the change to the insured at the owner's last known address; |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18provided, however, that such notice may be delivered to the insured by electronic mail if the |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19change was requested through an online tool. |
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