If your life insurance policy has cash value, you can borrow from the cash value inside. If you have a term policy with an accelerated death benefit rider then you may be able to borrow against the death benefit if you have a terminal illness.
The website Insure shows one how to calculate the cash value of Life Insurance. Their model shows what could happen to the cash value and death benefit if one taps his/her cash value to pay premiums.
company expense cash value death benefit
Your death benefit will always be the amount paid to your beneficiaries should you die. Your Face value is almost always the same thing as your death benefit and certainly it is with term insurance. With Cash Value policies however, if you ever make a withdrawl or take a loan on your cash value, this will effect the face value should you die and not pay it back. So suppose you take out a $10K loan on a $100 K policy. Your death benefit is still $100K but your face value should you die is only going to be $90K
It usually talks about the cash value or surrender value of a permanent policy. It could also reflect the death benefit of any policy.
It depends on the terms of the policy. Generally, cash value is a term related to the surrender value. If you die under a normal life insurance contract, your death benefit is paid and that's all. Some companies offer a rider that allows payment for the cash value plus the death benefit, but that costs more because you are purchasing insurance for the total of both calculated over a long time.
Endowment
That depends on whether or not you wish to continue having the life insurance in force at the insured's death. If you wish to have the life insurance in force at death, then it is best to borrow some of the cash value. If you surrender the policy, then you receive all the remaining cash value (less any surrender charges), but the death benefit is no longer there. Also the cash value received MAY be taxable.
Depends on how it is set up. My policy has a death benefit that actually increases by more than my cash value over the years so if i die my beneficiaries get the original face amount PLUS the cash value and then some!
The option to increase the death benefit with dividends is called "paid-up additions". If you select "paid-up additions" then dividends will purchase additional death benefit which will increase the total death benefit of the policy. This will also increase the cash value of the policy.
If you cash in the policy then yes it will not pay the death benefit because you have cancelled the policy.
This answer depends upon the schedule of cash value in the policy itself. Suggest you locate the policy, read it and then talk to the company. At this point, it's even possible that the cash value equals the policy's death benefit. In other words, the cash value could be significant.