Beneficiaries✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 1/5
In an annuity contract, the 'annuitant' is best defined as:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The annuitant is the measuring life in an annuity: for a life annuity, payments continue while the annuitant lives, and the payment amount is calculated using the annuitant's life expectancy. The owner controls the contract and may be a different person than the annuitant. The beneficiary receives any unpaid amounts after the annuitant's death under payout options that include a period-certain or refund feature. Although the owner and annuitant are often the same person, the three roles - owner, annuitant, and beneficiary - are distinct, and confusing them is a common source of exam errors.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The owner controls the contract, including premiums, payout elections, and surrender rights. The annuitant merely provides the measuring life and has no control unless also the owner.
- C) The beneficiary receives unpaid amounts at the annuitant's death under certain payout options. That is a separate role from the annuitant, who is the measuring life.
- D) The insurer is the company obligated to make annuity payments. It is not the annuitant, which is a role occupied by an individual whose life measures the payments.
Memory hook
Annuitant equals the life span that drives the income stream.