Form 712, the Life Insurance Statement, is an IRS document that the insurance company completes to report the value and ownership details of a life insurance policy for federal estate and gift tax purposes. If you are serving as executor, you request a Form 712 from each insurer and attach the completed form to the estate tax return (Form 706) for every policy the decedent owned or was insured under. In certain lifetime gifts of a policy, the same form is attached to the gift tax return (Form 709).1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 712 – Life Insurance Statement
When You Need Form 712
An estate is required to file Form 706 when the gross estate plus lifetime taxable gifts exceeds the basic exclusion amount. For decedents dying in 2026, that threshold is $15 million.2Internal Revenue Service. What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax Life insurance can push an estate over that threshold on its own, because a single policy may carry a death benefit in the millions.
Every policy on the decedent’s life is listed on Schedule D of Form 706, and each listed policy needs its own Form 712.3Internal Revenue Service. Schedule D (Form 706) The requirement holds even when the proceeds themselves are not taxable, for instance because they pass to a surviving spouse or to charity. The IRS wants the underlying documentation so it can verify how the policy was treated.
Form 706 is also required, regardless of estate size, when the executor elects to transfer the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount, known as portability, to the surviving spouse.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706 In a portability-only filing, any policy listed on Schedule D still needs a Form 712 attached.
Who Completes the Form
You do not fill out Form 712 yourself. The insurance company that issued the policy completes the financial sections, signs the form, and returns it to you. Your job is to request it from each insurer, which usually means supplying the policy number, the decedent’s name, the date of death, and a certified copy of the death certificate.
Insurers typically return the form within a few weeks, though older policies and companies that have gone through mergers can take longer. Request each form as early as possible after death. Form 706 is due nine months after the date of death.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4768 If you need more time, you can file Form 4768 before that deadline to get an automatic six-month extension.6eCFR. 26 CFR 20.6081-1 – Extension of Time for Filing the Return
Some policies are easy to overlook. Employer-sponsored group life, accidental death riders attached to auto policies, and old policies that lapsed but still had cash value at death all count. Request a Form 712 for each.
What the Form Reports
The form has two parts. Which one the insurer fills in depends on whether the insured person has died.
Part I: Policies on the Decedent’s Life
Part I covers the common case where the decedent was the insured. The insurer reports the face amount of the policy, any outstanding policy loans that reduce the payout, dividends accumulated by the insurer, and any paid-up additions that increase the benefit. The form also documents the policy owner, the designated beneficiary, premium payment details, and the date the last premium was paid.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 712 – Life Insurance Statement
Watch for unearned premiums. If the decedent paid a premium covering a period that extends past the date of death, the unused portion is an estate asset. The insurer reports it on Form 712, and it is added to the gross estate.
Part II: Policies on a Living Person
Part II applies when the decedent owned a policy insuring someone else who is still alive. Because no death benefit has been triggered, the policy is not valued at the face amount. The insurer instead reports the interpolated terminal reserve, which approximates the cost to replace the policy as of the date of death, plus any unearned premium.7eCFR. 26 CFR 20.2031-8 – Valuation of Certain Life Insurance and Annuity Contracts That total is the amount included in the gross estate for the policy.
Part II also covers gift tax reporting. When someone transfers ownership of a life insurance policy during life, Form 712 is attached to Form 709 to document the policy’s value on the date of transfer.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 (2025) For certain policies, such as single-premium or paid-up contracts, the IRS notes that the policy’s true economic value may be higher than the interpolated terminal reserve shown on the form, and the higher value should be used on the gift tax return.
You do not need to calculate the interpolated terminal reserve yourself; the insurer does the math. Knowing what the figure represents is useful when you review the completed form.
Why Ownership Details on the Form Matter
Form 712 asks for detailed ownership and beneficiary information because federal law uses those facts to decide whether proceeds belong in the gross estate. Insurance payable to the executor or to the estate is included automatically. Insurance payable to someone else is still included if the decedent held any “incidents of ownership” in the policy at death, in which case the full death benefit counts toward the gross estate.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2042 – Proceeds of Life Insurance
Incidents of ownership is a broad concept. It includes the power to change the beneficiary, surrender or cancel the policy, assign it, revoke an earlier assignment, pledge the policy as collateral, or borrow against its cash value.10eCFR. 26 CFR 20.2042-1 – Proceeds of Life Insurance Any one of them is enough to pull the entire death benefit into the estate.
If a policy was owned by an irrevocable life insurance trust rather than by the decedent personally, the proceeds generally stay out of the estate because the decedent held no incidents of ownership. The policy may still need to be disclosed on Form 706 with a Form 712 attached, especially if the IRS raises questions during processing.
One boundary is worth flagging. Transferring a policy out of the decedent’s name shortly before death does not solve the problem. If the decedent transferred a policy, or gave up incidents of ownership, within three years of death, the proceeds snap back into the gross estate.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2035 – Adjustments for Certain Gifts Made Within 3 Years of Decedent’s Death Life insurance transfers are specifically excluded from the small-gift safe harbor that exempts most transfers from this three-year lookback.
What Happens if Form 712 Is Missing or Late
Filing Form 706 without the required Form 712 attachments delays processing.12Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706 (09/2025) The IRS treats a return as incomplete when supporting documents are missing, which can hold up the estate tax closing letter and complicate distributions to beneficiaries.
If an insurer is slow and the filing deadline is near, you have a choice. Filing on time without Form 712 avoids late-filing penalties under Section 6651 but invites processing delays. Requesting a six-month extension via Form 4768 buys more time to gather documentation. When insurer delays are the only reason, many estate attorneys prefer the extension.
If Form 706 has already been filed and a Form 712 arrives afterward, there is a supplemental procedure. File another copy of Form 706 with “Supplemental Information” written across the top of the first page, include a statement explaining the change, and attach the missing Form 712 along with copies of pages one through four of the originally filed return.13Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Estate Taxes
Reviewing the Completed Form
When each Form 712 comes back from the insurer, check it against your own records. Confirm the beneficiary designation, verify the face amount, and make sure any policy loans are accurately reflected. Errors do happen, and you are the last review before the form goes to the IRS.
Keep copies of every Form 712 you submit. The form is never filed on its own; it is always an attachment to Form 706 or Form 709. If the IRS later audits the estate return, having your own copies in reach makes the process considerably easier.