Which statement about revocable and irrevocable beneficiaries is true?

• A. An irrevocable designation allows the policyowner to change the beneficiary at will.
• B. A revocable beneficiary gains enforceable rights only after the policy matures.
• C. If the policyowner does not have unilateral right to change the beneficiary, the designation is irrevocable.
• D. A revocable designation gives the beneficiary no rights from the outset.

Answer: (C)

The main idea is how control over the beneficiary designation affects rights to the death benefit. If the policyowner does not have unilateral right to change the beneficiary, the designation is irrevocable. That means the beneficiary has enforceable rights to the policy’s proceeds and the owner cannot change or remove them without the beneficiary’s consent. This is why the statement is true: lack of the owner’s unilateral right to change indicates an irrevocable designation.

Revocable designations, by contrast, let the owner change the beneficiary at any time without the beneficiary’s consent, so the beneficiary has no guaranteed right to the proceeds while the owner can still modify who gets them. The other options don’t fit: once a designation is irrevocable, the owner cannot change at will; rights to the death benefit aren’t contingent on policy maturity in standard life insurance; and a revocable designation does confer the ability to receive the death benefit upon the insured’s death, even though the owner can later change who is named.