The single piece of paper that decides where life insurance money goes is usually the one nobody looks at, and it is not the will. This article explains why a beneficiary designation on file with an insurer beats a will, a trust, and frequently a divorce decree, and what happens when the form is stale, ambiguous, or missing. It follows a hypothetical family through a denied claim to show what the contestability period actually permits an insurer to do and how a rescission is defeated. It explains the difference between an individual policy and employer group coverage, which changes the law, the deadline, the forum, and the remedy. It covers competing claims and interpleader, where the insurer steps out and the claimants fight each other. It closes with the small administrative acts that prevent nearly all of this.