If there is an appointed secondary person insured, what happens to the policy upon death of the policy owner?

Upon death of the policy owner, the policy will go to the estate of the policy owner.

For a first-party policy, where the policy owner is the active person insured, the secondary person insured will become the active person insured on the death of the policy owner. The policy will however remain in the ownership of the estate of the policy owner; the secondary person insured does not automatically become the policy owner.

For a third-party policy, where the policy owner is different from the person insured, there will be no change to the active person insured on the policy owner’s death.