LIC Nominee Change: How to Update the Nominee in Your LIC Policy, Form 3750 and the Rules Under Section 39

An LIC nominee change takes one form and one branch visit. You fill in Form 3750, the notice of change of nomination, sign it exactly as on LIC’s records and submit it to your servicing branch, which registers the new nominee and gives you a written acknowledgement. You can do this any time before the policy matures, as often as your life changes.

This guide covers who can be a nominee, Section 39 of the Insurance Act, beneficial nominees, appointees, the process, charges, and how assignment differs from nomination. We are an independent site, not LIC. Your servicing branch has the final word on your policy.

Why updating your nominee matters

The nominee is the person LIC pays if you die during the policy term. If the name on record is out of date (a parent who has since died, an ex-spouse, or nobody at all), your family may need a succession certificate or legal heir papers before LIC can pay. That can take months. A current nomination lets the claim go straight to the right person. Life events that should prompt a review include marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, and the death of the existing nominee.

Who can be an LIC nominee?

Under Section 39, the policyholder of a policy on their own life can nominate one or more persons. In practice:

• The nominee can be a spouse, child, parent, sibling or any other person. LIC may ask about the relationship if the nominee is not family.
• You can name more than one nominee. If one dies before you, the survivors receive the money.
• A minor can be a nominee, but you should also name an appointee (see below).
• For a policy on a child’s life, the child generally makes the nomination once the policy vests in them as an adult.

Section 39 of the Insurance Act, in plain words

Section 39 of the Insurance Act, 1938, as amended by the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015, sets the rules for nomination. The key points:

Rule under Section 39	What it means for you
Nomination at any time before maturity	You can add a nominee at purchase or later
Change or cancel any time before maturity	Use Form 3750 to change, Form 3751 to cancel
Written notice to the insurer	LIC is not bound by a change it has not been told about, including one made only in a will
Written acknowledgement	LIC must confirm in writing that the change is registered
Fee may be charged	Regulations allow a small fee for changes and cancellations
Assignment cancels nomination	Except an assignment to the insurer, or a lender, as security for a loan
Nominee dies before you	Money goes to you, or to your legal heirs, unless you name a new nominee
Nominee dies after you but before payment	That nominee’s share goes to their own legal heirs
Creditors’ rights	A nomination does not defeat a valid creditor’s claim on the proceeds
MWP Act policies	Section 39 does not apply to policies under Section 6 of the Married Women’s Property Act, 1874

Beneficial nominees: parents, spouse and children

Before 2015, courts generally treated a nominee as a collector who received the money in trust for the legal heirs. The 2015 amendment changed this for close family. If you nominate your parents, spouse, children, or spouse and children (or any of them), they are beneficially entitled to the money. In other words, they can keep it, unless it is proved that you could not have given them that title because of the nature of your own title to the policy.

A nominee outside this group, such as a brother or a friend, still receives the claim from LIC, but legal heirs may be able to challenge their right to keep it. Courts have not been fully consistent on the amended section, so if you want a specific person to keep the money and that person is not a beneficial nominee, consider a registered will as well and take legal advice.

Appointee for a minor nominee

A child cannot give LIC a valid discharge for a claim. That is why, when the nominee is a minor, you appoint an adult appointee to receive the money if you die while the nominee is still under 18. Points to note:

• The appointee must be an adult and should sign the nomination form to show consent.
• Choose someone who will use the money for the child, usually the other parent or a trusted relative.
• The appointee’s role ends when the nominee turns 18. No fresh form is needed for that.
• LIC also lists a separate nomination form for a minor nominee (Form 3265) on its forms page. Ask the branch which form fits your case.

How to change the nominee: step by step

1. Get Form 3750. Download it from LIC’s official website or collect it from any branch.
2. Fill in the policy details (policy number, your name as in the policy) and the new nominee’s name, relationship and age or date of birth. For a minor nominee, add the appointee’s details and signature.
3. Sign exactly as on LIC’s records and get it witnessed where the form asks.
4. Attach KYC, such as a self-attested copy of your PAN or Aadhaar. Some branches also ask for the original policy bond to endorse the change on it; others issue a separate endorsement.
5. Submit at your servicing branch and pay any fee that applies.
6. Keep the written acknowledgement, and later check the nominee shown on LIC’s customer portal or in your policy status.

To cancel a nomination without naming anyone new, use Form 3751 instead. Online: LIC’s customer portal lets registered users see policy details, including the nominee. Whether the change itself can be done online has varied, so confirm the current facility with LIC before you rely on it. Never share your portal password or OTP with anyone offering to “update the nominee for you”.

LIC nominee change charges

A nomination made at the time of buying the policy is free. For registering a change or cancellation later, IRDAI guidelines that took effect on 1 April 2015 allow insurers to charge up to ₹100, or up to ₹50 for policies issued in electronic form. No other nomination-related fee is allowed under those guidelines. LIC’s actual charge can depend on the policy, so ask at the branch.

Worked example: nominee change, a minor nominee and a policy loan

Rahul bought an LIC policy similar to New Endowment 714 at age 35: ₹10 lakh sum assured, 20-year term, yearly premium ₹50,918 (from our calculator; there is no GST on it, because individual life insurance premiums have been GST-exempt since 22 September 2025). His father was the original nominee.

Rahul marries, and a few years later his daughter is born. He files Form 3750 naming his daughter, then aged 4, as nominee and his wife as appointee, and pays the fee, at most ₹100. In year 8 he takes a policy loan of ₹1,00,000 from LIC. Because the loan is secured by an assignment to the insurer itself, the nomination is not cancelled; LIC’s interest simply comes first.

Suppose Rahul dies after 10 full policy years, with the loan and an assumed ₹4,000 of unpaid interest outstanding, and bonus at an assumed ₹40 per ₹1,000 a year:

Item	Amount
Sum assured on death	₹10,00,000
Bonus for 10 years (₹40,000 a year)	₹4,00,000
Gross death claim	₹14,00,000
Less policy loan	− ₹1,00,000
Less unpaid loan interest (assumed)	− ₹4,000
Net claim	₹12,96,000

Because his daughter is 14, LIC pays the ₹12,96,000 to his wife as appointee on the daughter’s behalf. As a child of the policyholder, the daughter is a beneficial nominee. Had Rahul instead absolutely assigned the policy to a bank for a home loan, the nomination would have been cancelled, and after the bank reassigned it he would have needed a fresh nomination. Actual bonus rates are declared every year, so check your own figures with the LIC maturity calculator, and read how loans work in our LIC loan against policy guide.

Assignment vs nomination

People often confuse the two. They do very different jobs:

	Nomination (Section 39)	Assignment (Section 38)
What it does	Names who receives the money on your death	Transfers your rights in the policy to someone else
Who controls the policy	You, the policyholder	The assignee, fully (absolute) or until a condition is met (conditional)
Typical use	Protecting family	Security for a loan, gift, or a conditional transfer to a spouse or child
Effect on the other	—	Cancels the existing nomination, except a loan assignment to the insurer or a lender
How it is done	Form 3750 or at purchase	Endorsement on the policy or a separate deed, notified to LIC

LIC’s forms page lists conditional assignment forms for a wife or close relative (Forms 3837 and 3838). Once a policy is absolutely assigned, the assignee, not you, decides on claims and surrender. After a reassignment back to you, register a new nomination.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Relying only on a will. LIC pays the nominee on record unless told of a change before payment.
• Forgetting the appointee for a minor nominee, or never updating after marriage, divorce or the nominee’s death.
• Signature mismatch on Form 3750, which leads to queries and delay.

When the time comes, your family’s claim will be much simpler if the nominee is current. Our LIC death claim process guide explains what the nominee will need to do, and the LIC term plan calculator can help you check whether your cover is enough for the people you are nominating.

Key takeaways

• Use Form 3750 to change and Form 3751 to cancel an LIC nomination; submit it at the servicing branch.
• You can change the nominee any number of times before maturity, and LIC must acknowledge each change in writing.
• Parents, spouse and children named as nominees are beneficial nominees under the amended Section 39.
• A minor nominee needs an adult appointee who signs the form.
• Fees for a change are small, capped at ₹100 (₹50 for e-policies) under IRDAI guidelines.
• An absolute assignment cancels the nomination; a policy loan from LIC does not.
• For a child’s future, compare plans with the LIC child plan calculator.