BTW, if insured and owner are not the same, of course, the answer is yes. If they are the same, there might be a problem with the beneficiary collecting the death benefit. Ha..ha. :lol:
I assume you are talking about life insurance. The owner can make his estate the beneficiary and then dole out the amounts in a will or a trust. However I don't know if it would be a tax-free event to the estate... or to the beneficary.... as would a named 'person' beneficiary.
Of course if the insured lives past 110 (I think is the new limit), the policy usually will endow and pay the DB to the insured.
If a life insurance policy has the estate of the insured named as beneficiary, the death benefit loses its tax-free status. However, an irrevocable insurance trust would cure that defect.
