Insurance Trust Malaysia: Protect Your Life Insurance Payout 马来西亚保险信托:保护您的人寿保险理赔金

Learn how combining life insurance with a trust structure secures immediate liquidity, bypasses probate, and protects minor beneficiaries. 了解将人寿保险与信托结构相结合如何保障即时流动性、避开遗嘱认证,并保护未成年受益人。

Insurance trust

By TrusteeMalaysia.com Editorial Team | Published: June 10, 2026 作者:TrusteeMalaysia.com 编辑团队 | 发布时间:2026年6月10日

1. What is an Insurance Trust in Malaysia? 1. 什么是马来西亚保险信托?

An Insurance Trust is a legal arrangement where the policyholder (settlor) assigns their life insurance policy to a trustee company. Instead of nominating an individual beneficiary directly on the policy, the trustee is named as the assignee or beneficiary. Upon the death of the policyholder, the insurance company pays the death benefits directly to the trustee. The trustee then manages and distributes these funds strictly according to the instructions set out in the trust deed. This structure ensures that large lump-sum payouts are not mismanaged, lost, or subjected to creditor claims. 保险信托是一种法律安排,投保人(委托人)将其人寿保单转让给受托机构。与直接在保单上指定个人受益人不同,受托机构被指定为受让人或受益人。投保人去世后,保险公司将死亡赔偿金直接支付给受托机构。然后,受托人严格按照信托契约中设定的指示管理和分配这些资金。这种结构可以确保大额的一次性赔偿金不会被管理不当、流失或面临债权人追索。

Unlike standard insurance nominations, which simply hand over the cash in a single lump sum, an insurance trust allows for highly customized distribution instructions. For example, you can instruct the trustee to pay for your children's tertiary education directly to the university, distribute monthly maintenance sums to your spouse, or release funds only when your children reach specific age milestones (e.g., 25, 30, or 35 years old). This level of control is impossible with a standard policy nomination. 与传统的保单提名(通常是将现金一次性移交)不同,保险信托允许高度定制的分配指示。例如,您可以指示受托人直接向大学支付子女的高等教育费用、向配偶分配月度抚养费,或者仅在子女达到特定年龄里程碑(例如25岁、30岁或35岁)时才发放资金。这种级别的控制在标准保单提名中是无法实现的。

2. Legal Framework: Civil Law Act 1956 and Policy Ownership 2. 法律框架:《1956年民事法法令》与保单所有权

Under Section 23 of the Civil Law Act 1956, a policy of assurance effected by any man on his own life, and expressed to be for the benefit of his wife or children, creates a trust in favor of the nominees. This is known as a statutory trust policy. While a statutory trust protects the policy proceeds from the deceased's creditors, it also creates severe limitations. For instance, if the spouse or child is a minor, they cannot sign a valid receipt for the payout. The funds may then be locked up with the public trustee or the High Court until the minor reaches the age of 18, depriving the family of immediate cash. 根据《1956年民事法法令》第23条,任何人在其自身寿命上购买的保单,并明示为配偶或子女的利益而设立,即构成以被提名人为受益人的信托。这被称为法定信托保单。虽然法定信托可以保护保单收益免受死者债权人的追索,但它也带来了严重的局限性。例如,如果配偶或子女是未成年人,他们无法为赔偿金签署有效的收据。资金可能会因此被锁定在公共受托人或高等法院,直到未成年人年满18岁,从而使家庭失去即时动用现金的机会。

By establishing an insurance trust and assigning the policy to a corporate trustee, the policyholder overcomes these limitations. The corporate trustee, as a legal entity, can immediately receive the insurance payout from the insurer and distribute it to minor children via periodic payments for their maintenance, medical care, and education. Furthermore, assigning a policy to an insurance trust creates a non-trust policy under the Financial Services Act 2013, allowing the trustee to own the policy and handle payouts seamlessly without needing a Grant of Probate. 通过设立保险信托并将保单转让给法人受托机构,投保人便可克服这些限制。作为法律实体的法人受托机构可以立即从保险公司收取保险理赔金,并通过定期付款的方式分配给未成年子女,用于他们的日常开销、医疗和教育。此外,将保单转让给保险信托,会在《2013年金融服务法令》下创建非信托保单分类,从而使受托人能够拥有该保单并无缝处理理赔金,而不需要申请遗嘱认证书。

3. Key Benefits of Using an Insurance Trust 3. 使用保险信托的核心优势

The combination of life insurance and a trust structure offers several distinct advantages over traditional policy nominations: 人寿保险与信托结构的结合相比传统保单提名具有几个明显的优势:

  • Immediate Liquidity: Insurance payouts bypass probate. While bank accounts are frozen, the trustee receives the policy payout within weeks of the settlor's passing, providing immediate funds for funeral costs, estate administration expenses, and family survival. 即时流动性:保险理赔金绕过遗嘱认证。当银行账户被冻结时,受托人在委托人去世后数周内即可收到保单赔偿金,为丧葬费、遗产管理开支和家庭生存提供即时资金。
  • Protection Against Creditors: Once the policy is legally assigned to the trust, the assets do not form part of the deceased's estate. This protects the funds from any potential personal creditors of the deceased. 防范债权人:一旦保单合法转让给信托,资产便不构成已故人士遗产的一部分。这保护了资金免受已故人士任何潜在个人债权人的追索。
  • Staged Distributions: Instead of giving a massive lump sum to a young beneficiary or a spendthrift family member, the trust distributes the wealth gradually, preventing reckless spending. 分阶段分配:信托并非将巨额资金一次性交给年轻的受益人或挥霍无度的家庭成员,而是逐渐分配财富,防止挥霍无度。
  • Flexibility: You can change the terms of the trust deed or the distribution rules as your family's needs evolve, provided the trust is structured as revocable. 灵活性:只要信托被结构化为可撤销信托,您就可以随着家庭需求的变化来更改信托契约的条款或分配规则。

4. Setting Up an Insurance Trust: Process and Costs 4. 设立保险信托:流程与费用

Setting up an insurance trust is a structured process that must be executed carefully: 设立保险信托是一个结构化的过程,必须谨慎执行:

  1. Consultation: Meet with a professional estate planner or trustee representative to discuss your legacy goals and list the policies to be included. 咨询:与专业遗产规划师或受托人代表见面,讨论您的传承目标并列出要包含的保单。
  2. Drafting the Trust Deed: The trust deed is drafted, detailing who the beneficiaries are, how the funds should be distributed, and what powers the trustee holds. 起草信托契约:起草信托契约,详细说明受益人是谁、资金应如何分配以及受托人拥有的权力。
  3. Policy Assignment: Submit the deed and policy assignment forms (Form 3A under the Financial Services Act) to the insurance company to officially transfer ownership or nomination to the trustee. 保单转让:将契约和保单转让表格(《金融服务法令》下的表格 3A)提交给保险公司,正式将所有权或提名转让给受托人。
  4. Execution: Sign the trust deed in the presence of witnesses and pay the stamp duty to make it legally binding. 执行:在证人在场的情况下签署信托契约,并支付印花税使其具有法律约束力。

Regarding costs, establishing an insurance trust is a highly accessible estate planning tool. The initial setup fee typically ranges from RM3,000 to RM8,000, depending on the complexity of the distribution instructions. Annual trustee fees are generally flat or a small percentage of the asset value, typically ranging from RM1,000 to RM2,500 during the lifetime of the settlor. Upon the activation of the trust (i.e. when the settlor passes away and the payout is received), an administration fee of around 1.0% to 2.0% of the insurance payout is charged by the trustee to manage the funds over the years. 关于费用,设立保险信托是一个非常亲民的遗产规划工具。初始设立费通常在3,000令吉至8,000令吉之间,具体取决于分配指示的复杂程度。年度受托人费用在委托人有生之年通常是固定金额或占资产价值的一小部分,一般在1,000令吉至2,500令吉之间。在信托激活时(即委托人去世且理赔金到账时),受托人通常会收取保险理赔金的约1.0%至2.0%作为管理费,用于多年内管理这些资金。

Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. 免责声明:本内容仅供学习参考之用,并不构成任何法律或财务建议。

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