Cestui Que Vie

What Does Cestui Que Vie Mean?

Cestui que vie is a legal term for the person entitled to receive the proceeds of a life insurance policy upon the death of the insured.

This term is considered outdated; today, a cestui que vie is referred to as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Since the named beneficiary is the one who actually receives the payout when the insured dies, it helps to know the rules and common mistakes around life insurance beneficiary designations before filling out that section of the application. If you’re on the other side of that equation and need to claim a payout, the process for collecting life insurance as a beneficiary involves gathering the death certificate and submitting a claim form to the insurer.

Insuranceopedia Explains Cestui Que Vie

Cestui que vie is derived from the broader concept of cestui que, a term that designates a person entitled to an estate held in trust, granting them an equitable right to all rents, issues, and profits generated from that estate. The term cestui que has been superseded by the modern legal term “beneficiary.”

Cestui que vie specifically refers to a cestui que concerning a person’s life, meaning the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.