Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 17B:24-4

  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
a. Nothing in this Title shall prohibit any person insured under an insurance policy or annuity contract, other than group, from assigning or not assigning, as provided by its terms. Subject to its terms relating to assignability, any life or health insurance policy or annuity contract, other than group, whether heretofore or hereafter issued, under the terms of which the beneficiary may be changed upon the sole request of the insured or owner, if other than the insured, may be assigned either by pledge or transfer of title, by an assignment executed by the insured or such owner alone and delivered to the insurer, whether or not the pledgee or assignee is the insurer. Any such assignment shall entitle the insurer to deal with the assignee as the owner or pledgee of the insurance policy or annuity contract, other than group, in accordance with the terms of the assignment, until the insurer has received at its home office written notice of termination of the assignment or pledge.

b. Nothing in this title shall prohibit any person insured under a group insurance contract, pursuant to an arrangement among the insured, the group policyholder and the insurer, from making to any person an assignment of the rights and benefits conferred on him by any provision of such contract or by law including specifically but not by way of limitation the right to have issued to him an individual policy as set forth in section 17B:27-19 and section 17B:27-20, the right to name a beneficiary and the right to receive any proceeds of the policy payable during the lifetime of the insured. Any such assignment, whether made before or after the effective date of this law, shall entitle the insurer to deal with the assignee as the owner of all rights and benefits conferred on the insured under the policy in accordance with the terms of the assignment.

L.1971, c. 144, s. 17B:24-4