Group 10-Year Level Term Plus Life Insurance
Underwritten by New York Life Insurance Company
Valuable Protection at Group Rates Guaranteed to Remain the Same for 10 Years
If you don't yet have life insurance or your coverage hasn't kept pace with the changes in your life, now is the time to apply for coverage. ABE-sponsored Group 10-Year Level Term Plus Life offers a death benefit large enough to make a real difference to your family as well as competitive rates you can lock in for the next ten years. With up to $2 million of protection available, now is the time to be sure you have the coverage you need to help secure your family's financial future.
To better meet members' needs we also have available the ABE-Sponsored Group 20-Year Level Term Life Insurance Plan and the 5-Year Banded Group Term Life Insurance Plan. This website contains information about all of our Group Life Insurance plans. For a brief overview of why the ABE-sponsored Group Level Term Plus Life Insurance Plans might be right for you and your family, click here for your free whitepaper.
Coverage For You
As an ABA member under age 65, you are eligible to apply for any benefit amount from $100,000 to $2,000,000 in $10,000 increments. Coverage is not available for residents of Washington, or outside the U.S. except the U.S. Virgin Islands. The total amount of coverage under all ABE Group Term Life Insurance Plans may not exceed $2,000,000.
Coverage For Your Family
Provided you are insured or applying for coverage under this plan, you may apply for any spouse benefit amount from $100,000 to $2,000,000 in $10,000 increments (minimum of $100,000). Your spouse/domestic partner must be less than age 65, and spouse/domestic partner coverage cannot exceed 100% of your coverage. A Domestic Partner is defined as an eligible dependent. (Click here for a Declaration of Domestic Partnership Form.) The Group Policy provides the same benefits for parties to a Civil Union as are granted to a spouse in marriage for residents of any state that so mandates. You can also insure all unmarried, dependent children from 6 months through 24 years of age for $5,000 each; a child may not be insured for more than one $5,000 benefit under all policies issued by New York Life Insurance Company to the American Bar Endowment. (If both you and your spouse are ABA/ABE members, you may both apply for separate member coverage, but you may not insure each other as a spouse on your coverage. Only one certificate can carry dependent children.) A Domestic Partner is defined as an eligible dependent (click here for an Declaration of Domestic Partnership Form).
If you die, your insured spouse and dependent children can continue coverage until the spouse remarries or attains age 75 (whichever comes first), provided the children remain eligible, premiums are paid when due and the group Plan remains in force.
Lock In Your Economical Group Rate For 10 Years
The ABE-sponsored Group 10-Year Level Term Plus Life Insurance Plan offers life insurance protection with premiums that are guaranteed for an initial 10-year period, and level amounts of insurance until termination at age 75. You have two renewal options after the 10-year term ends:
- You can reapply for a new 10-year term if you are under age 65 and still meet eligibility requirements. If your application is approved, your premium contributions will be based on your age, health, and smoking status at the time coverage becomes effective and will be guaranteed for the new 10-year term.
- You can continue your existing coverage until you reach age 75, but on a non-guaranteed rate basis, under which premium contributions increase as you age. Under this option, you are not required to reapply, and you are not subject to medical underwriting requirements. Coverage ends when you reach age 75.
Accelerated Death Benefit (Living Benefit)
To help your family cope with the financial hardship of a terminal illness, you can apply to receive 50% of your total life insurance in force if you are diagnosed by a physician as terminally ill with a life expectancy of 24 months or less. The request must be made at least 12 months prior to the scheduled termination age, and the amount of insurance payable after the insured's death will be reduced by this payment. This benefit can be paid only once, and will reduce the insured's life insurance by such amount. Premiums are not reduced. (Receipt of these benefits may affect eligibility for public assistance programs and may be taxable. Before applying for these benefits, consult with the appropriate social service agency and a qualified tax advisor.)
The Accelerated Death Benefit is not available for residents of Massachusetts.
Volume Discounts Available
To make coverage even more affordable at higher benefit levels, increasing volume discounts apply to coverages of $100,000 to $249,000, $250,000 to $499,000, $500,000 to $999,000 and $1,000,000 and over. Premiums will vary with the amount of benefits.
Conversion Provision
If you should drop your ABA/ABE membership, or your coverage terminates involuntarily, you have the right to convert your Group Ten-Year Level Term Plus Life Insurance Plan to an individual policy - regardless of your health. Your Certificate of Insurance explains this privilege in detail. The right to convert does not apply if coverage terminates due to non-payment of premium.
Group Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance Plan
This separate plan provides up to an additional $500,000 of benefits if death is due to an accident. Members under age 72 and a resident of the U.S. or the U.S. Virgin Islands, may apply for $100,000 to $500,000 in coverage for themselves and their lawful spouse. A Domestic Partner is defined as an eligible dependent. (Click here for a Declaration of Domestic Partnership Form.) The Group Policy provides the same benefits for parties to a Civil Union as are granted to a spouse in marriage for residents of any state that so mandates. Spouse coverage may not exceed 100% of the member's coverage. Coverage amounts of $25,000 or $50,000 for unmarried dependent children up to age 19, (under age 25 if a full-time student) are also available. Premium will vary with the amount of benefits. The member, spouse, and child principal sum amounts reduce 50% at member age 72. A separate Certificate of Insurance will be issued for coverage under this plan.
Note: If both you and your spouse are members of the ABA/ABE, both may apply for member coverage, but neither of you may insure the other as a spouse, and only one of you may insure dependent children. Benefits will be payable for covered losses up to 365 days after the date of the accident. If more than one loss results from the same covered accident, benefits will be payable for each loss, up to the amount of the principal sum.
Schedule of Benefits
| Accidental Death | Full Amount |
| *Loss of two hands or two feet | Full Amount |
| *Loss of sight of both eyes | Full Amount |
| *Loss of one foot and one hand | Full Amount |
| *Loss of one hand and one eye or loss of one foot and one eye | Full Amount |
| *Loss of speech and hearing | Full Amount |
| Loss of one foot or one hand or one eye | One-half Amount |
| Loss of speech or hearing | One-half Amount |
| Loss of thumb and index finger of the same hand | One-fourth Amount |
*Benefits for these losses will be payable only when such double loss occurs as a result of a single accident.
Loss of hand or hands, or foot or feet, means severance at or above the wrist joint or ankle joint respectively. Loss of one eye or eyes means the total and irrecoverable loss of the entire sight thereof. Loss of speech or hearing means the total and irrecoverable loss thereof. Loss of hearing which can be corrected by the use of any hearing aid or device shall not be considered an irrecoverable loss. Loss of thumb and index finger of the same hand means severance of two or more entire phalanges of both the thumb and index finger. To receive benefits, loss must be independent of sickness and all other causes.
Effective Date
Your Group 10-Year Level Term Life Insurance will go into effect on the first day of the month after your application is approved by New York Life, provided you pay your initial premium within 31 days after being billed and the proposed covered person is actively performing the normal activities of a person in good health of like age on the effective date. Coverage for your dependents, if approved, goes into effect when your coverage does. Any person who is not performing his/her normal activities as required will not become insured until the day such person is performing such activities, provided that the new effective date is within 3 months of the original date and the person is still eligible. Dependent coverage will not become effective prior to the effective date of the member's insurance. Your Group AD&D insurance will take effect on the first day of the month following receipt of your application, provided the premium due is paid within 31 days after being billed, and you are not hospitalized on the effective date or on the date the premiums are paid. Any proposed insured who is hospitalized on that date will not become insured until the first day of the month following his/her release, provided the person is still eligible. Dependent insurance will not take effect until your insurance is in effect on a paying basis.
Note: For MD and NC residents, any reference to the performance of normal activities by a person in good health of like age is replaced by the requirement that the health status of any proposed insured remains the same as stated in your application.
When Insurance Ends
You can't be singled out for cancellation. As long as you maintain your membership in the American Bar Association, make the required premium payments when due, and the 10-Year Level Term Life Group Insurance plan is not terminated by the ABE, or the AD&D Group Insurance plan is not terminated by ABE or New York Life, you may continue your ABE Group Ten-Year Level Term Plus Life Insurance Plan until the May 31st on or next following your 75th birthday and the Group Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance coverage as long as you live. Coverage for your dependents ceases upon the termination of your coverage, or when they no longer meet the eligibility requirements, whichever is earlier.
Our 30-Day Free Look
When you receive your Certificate(s) of Insurance, please read carefully. If you decide not to participate, simply return it within 30 days without claim, and coverage will be invalidated. There is no other obligation.
Exclusions And Limitations
Group Ten Year Level Term Plus Life Insurance: After two years from the effective date, your coverage is incontestable, except for provisions related to eligibility and nonpayment of premium contributions. Benefits are payable for death from any cause except suicide during the first two years of the policy. Missouri residents: Benefits will not be paid for death resulting from suicide within the first 2 years if New York Life can show that suicide was intended at the time of application.
Group Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance: The exclusions are:
- A loss that occurs during or results from travel in, on, or descent from an in flight aircraft, unless traveling solely as a passenger on a licensed, commercial, nonmilitary aircraft;
- A loss that occurs during or is due or related to participation in or incarceration resulting from - in a role other than as victim - the commission of a crime or illegal occupation or activity;
- A loss due to or related to sickness or disease or medical or surgical treatment thereof, except bacterial infection which occurs as a result of accidental cut, wound, or ingestion of contaminated materials;
- A loss that occurs during or is due or related to military service or war or any act of war, whether declared or undeclared;
- A loss due or related to suicide, attempted suicide, or intentionally self-inflicted injury while sane or insane; Missouri residents: Benefits will not be paid for death or dismemberment resulting from suicide, attempted suicide or self-inflicted injury if New York Life can show that such act was intended at the time of application.
- A loss that occurs during or is due or related to any medical, dental or surgical treatment unrelated to the accident.
Important Notice: How New York Life Underwrites Your Request For Group Term Life Insurance
Information regarding insurability will be treated as confidential. In considering whether the persons in your request for insurance qualify for coverage, we will rely on the medical information you provide, and on the information you authorize us to obtain from your doctor, other medical practitioners and facilities, other insurance companies to which you have applied for insurance, and MIB Inc. (Medical Information Bureau). New York Life will not disclose such information to anyone except those you authorize or where required or permitted by law. We may make a brief report to MIB regarding your application; however, we will not disclose our underwriting decision. Information in our files may be seen by New York Life and ABE employees, but only on a "need to know" basis in considering your request. Upon receipt of all requested information, we will make a determination as to whether your request for insurance can be approved. MIB is a non-profit membership organization of life insurance companies which operates an information exchange on behalf of its members. When you apply for insurance or submit a claim for benefits to a MIB member company, medical or nonmedical information may be given to the Bureau, which may then be furnished to member companies. If we cannot provide the coverage you requested, we will tell you why. If you feel our information is inaccurate, you will be given a chance to correct or complete the information in our files. Upon written request to New York Life or MIB, you will be provided with non-medical information. Generally, medical information will be given either directly to the proposed insured or to a medical professional designated by the proposed insured. Your request is handled in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act procedures. MIB's information office is 50 Braintree Hill Park, Suite 400, Braintree, MA 02184-8734, telephone 1-866-692-6901, ( TTY 1-866-346-3642).
For NM residents: In addition, PROTECTED PERSONS1 have a right of access to certain CONFIDENTIAL ABUSE INFORMATION2 we maintain in our files and they may choose to receive such information directly. You have the right to register as a PROTECTED PERSON by sending a signed request to ABE at the address listed on the application. Please include your full name, date of birth, and address.
1PROTECTED PERSON means a victim of domestic abuse: who has notified us that he/she is or has been a victim of domestic abuse; and who is an insured person or prospective insured person.
2CONFIDENTIAL ABUSE INFORMATION means information about: acts of domestic abuse or abuse status; the work or home address or telephone number of a victim of domestic abuse; or the status of an applicant or insured as family member, employer or associate of a victim of domestic abuse or a person with whom the applicant or insured is known to have a direct, close, personal, family, or abuse related relationship.
If we can provide the coverage you requested, we will inform you as to when such coverage will be effective. Under no circumstances will coverage be effective prior to this date. Payment of a premium contribution with your Application does not mean there is any insurance in force before the effective date as determined by New York Life.
New York Life Insurance Company 0808ed
Group 10-Year Level Term Plus Life Insurance Rates
Group Accidental Death & Dismemberment Rate
Assignment of Dividends
Founded in 1942, the American Bar Endowment is a §501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization composed of members of the American Bar Association. ABE makes annual grants to the American Bar Foundation and ABA Fund for Justice and Education to fulfill ABE’s charitable purpose of improving the administration of justice, one of our profession’s highest obligations, by funding research, public service and educational projects in the field of law. ABE also maintains a Legal Legacy Fund for the permanent support of its grantees. By participating in the Endowment’s group insurance programs, designed for and available only to ABA members, members can contribute to these funding efforts. Attorneys who enroll in ABE-sponsored group insurance programs agree that their share of any dividends payable on the group policies may be retained by the Endowment for its charitable purposes unless reclaimed as outlined below. The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that members who leave their dividends with the Endowment are eligible for a charitable contribution deduction on their individual income tax returns.
Members who donate dividends to ABE make a difference. These funds, after administrative expenses, are the primary source of ABE’s charitable grants and additions to the Legal Legacy Fund. Insured members who donate their dividends are helping to meet their professional and public responsibilities, as well as obtaining valuable coverage for their families. About 85% of members donate their dividends, and these members are notified each year in late January of the amount, if any, of the dividend donation for the prior year. (Dividends are not guaranteed, and in any given year, a given plan may not pay a dividend; dividends will vary from year to year.)
Members who wish to request a refund of their dividends may do so. The approximate percentage of premium available for refund (if any) on each plan will be published in each November issue of the ABA Journal along with ABE’s Annual Report. You do not need to wait for this information as refund requests are accepted beginning January 1. To request that dividends be paid to you rather than donated to ABE: After the first policy year of your participation, a written request for refund (by mail, fax, or e-mail to dividends@abendowment.org) must be made each year and must reach the Endowment by December 15. When your refund request is received, a confirmation will be sent. Retain this for your records as proof your request was timely received. If your confirmation is not received within 3 weeks, contact the Endowment promptly to obtain another copy.
If you receive a contribution notice and you did not intend to make a contribution, you may request a one-time waiver of the December 15 deadline by asking for a refund, if you have not previously requested such a waiver. Each member is entitled to one and only one exception to the deadline requirement.
Please note: Members who do not want to contribute dividends to ABE are required to “opt out” each year, using the procedures above. When members sign the application, they are agreeing to make an annual decision whether to contribute. Do not sign the application if you do not agree with these procedures.
The Group 10-Year Level Term Life Insurance Plan and the Group Accidental Death & Dismemberment Plan are underwritten by New York Life Insurance Company, 51 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010, under, respectively, Group Policy G-29104-0 on Policy Form GMR-FACE/G-29104-0 and under Group Policy G-11461-0 on Policy Form GMR-FACE/G-11461-0. Domiciled and principal place of business in New York; licensed in all States. NAIC identification number 66915.
We will be happy to answer your questions. Just call 1-800-621-8981 or e-mail us at information@abendowment.org
