Common use of Death of Owner Clause in Contracts

Death of Owner. The purpose of this Section is to qualify this Contract as an annuity contract in accordance with Section 72(s) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended ("Code"). Its provisions shall apply notwithstanding any other provisions of the Contract in conflict therewith. In the event any Owner of this Contract who is not the Annuitant dies on or after the Maturity Date and before the entire interest in the Contract has been distributed, the remaining portion of such interest will be distributed at least as rapidly as under the Annuity Option in effect as of the Date of the Owner's death. In the event any Owner of this Contract who is not the Annuitant dies prior to the Maturity Date, the entire interest of that Owner in this Contract shall be distributed to the Beneficiary within five years after the Owner's death, or distributed under an Annuity Option providing for annuity payments over the life of such Beneficiary or over a period not extending beyond the life expectancy of such Beneficiary (in accordance with the regulations the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe), if such payments begin within one year after the date of the Owner's death or such later date as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe by regulations. In addition, if any portion of the Owner's interest in this Contract is payable to (or for the benefit of) the Owner's surviving spouse, that spouse shall be deemed to have been designated by the Owner as a "designated beneficiary" for purpose of Section 72(s) of the Code, and shall be treated as the Owner, and no distributions described hereinabove shall be required, with respect to that portion of the Contract payable to (or for the benefit of) such spouse. If the Owner who dies is the one named in the original application for this Contract, the entire interest of that Owner in this Contract will be the same as if the Owner had been the Annuitant; if the Owner who dies is not the one named in the original application for this Contract, the entire interest of that Owner shall be the Accumulated Value of this Contract.