When you buy any type of life insurance you’ll have to send premiums, which is insurance lingo for payments. You’ll send these maybe once a month or once a year. In return you’ll have a guarantee that they’ll write you a big check if something were to happen to you. Well, they’ll write someone you love a big check. How do they get that check? When the unthinkable happens, your beneficiaries will have to file a claim to get the death benefit. Thankfully, it’s a pretty straightforward process. Beneficiaries get the payout all at once in a lump sum or in installments over the course of years. Death benefits are almost always tax free for those you leave behind.
source
Life Insurance Explained
