What is the process for receiving unemployment insurance funds?

"You can take it as cash. Death benefits are income tax free." Sometimes, a life insurance payout may come with special conditions. "If the insurance policy is owned by a trust, the trust can distribute assets based on what the original trustee wants, or [what] the deceased wanted. Let's say you've got three kids and one is a drug addict, and you don't want to give money [directly to that child]." A policyholder can designate one beneficiary's share to be used only for education or medical care, for example. "It's called a restricted benefit, and that way you can only give money for their needs, or if they [control] the addiction for 5 or 10 years."

Restricted benefits can also apply to a timeline for life insurance payments. "You don't want to give an 18-year-old a million dollars [as a lump sum]. You can designate it in increments so they're still motivated to be productive...There are a hundred ways to do it, and it just depends on the creativity of the individual." For beneficiaries, Dematatis recommends taking things slow. "One of the big mistakes people make is they do a move [of funds] in the first 12 months. If you have immediate income needs, do that...[Otherwise], spend some time to calm down. Deal with the loss before you deal with big assets."