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A family brings in an estate with three life insurance policies, and the 706 is due in 9 months. The numbers on the return are only as good as the statements behind them, and Form 712 is the statement the insurer signs to value each policy. You request it, the carrier prepares and signs it, and you attach it to the return.
Two things catch people. First, you need a separate Form 712 for every policy, with the right valuation date. Second, a policy the family thought was safely outside the estate can be pulled back in if it was transferred within 3 years of death, or if the decedent kept incidents of ownership, under sections 2035 and 2042. The gift side runs parallel: Part II attaches to Form 709, and your 712 values have to agree with what you report there.
Key Takeaways
- You attach Form 712 to support the value of each life insurance policy reported on an estate tax return, Form 706, or on a gift tax return, Form 709. The insurer prepares and signs it, you request it and file it.
- Request a separate Form 712 for every policy, with the correct valuation date, date of death for estates, date of transfer for gifts.
- If an insurer refuses to issue Form 712, you still complete the schedule and attach other proof like riders, assignments, and the proceeds check, then explain.
- Policies transferred within three years of death, or where the decedent retained incidents of ownership, can be pulled into the estate under sections 2035 and 2042.
- For gifts made in 2025, the annual exclusion is $19,000 per donee, so be sure your Form 709 and Form 712 values align.
What is IRS Form 712
Form 712, Life Insurance Statement, is an attachment that documents a policy’s value for federal estate or gift tax reporting. You request it from the carrier, they prepare and sign it, and you attach it to Form 706 with Schedule D for estates or to Form 709 for gifts. It is not filed alone.
What the insurer confirms for you:
- Face amount and the net amount payable
- Accumulated and terminal dividends
- Outstanding policy loans and indebtedness
- Ownership or transfer details, including whether a transfer occurred within three years of death
That information flows directly to Form 706 Schedule D or supports the fair market value you report on Form 709. Request it early, officer signatures and internal calculations can take time.
When Form 712 is required
You attach Form 712 any time you report a policy on the decedent’s life on Form 706, even if proceeds are payable to someone other than the estate. You also attach it when a policy is the subject of a gift reported on Form 709. For estates, list every policy on Schedule D and attach a separate Form 712 for each one.
The quick matrix
| Scenario | What you attach | Valuation date |
| Estate return, Form 706 | One Form 712 for each policy listed on Schedule D | Date of death |
| Gift return, Form 709 | One Form 712 per policy gifted or transferred | Date of transfer |
| Policy transferred within 3 years of death | Report on 706 and attach Form 712, apply three year rule | Date of death plus transfer detail |
The 706 instructions say to request a Form 712 for every policy and attach it to Schedule D. If the carrier will not provide it, attach other records that verify what is includible.
Why timing and structure matter
Two bottlenecks cause most stress, late requests and unclear workpapers. Carriers often need policy numbers, a certified death certificate for estates, and time to finalize officer signatures. On your side, clean file naming, standardized workpapers, and a simple tracker for requests cut days off review. If your team works across multiple states, trusts, and owners, consistent SOPs prevent back and forth in partner review.
At Accountably, we see the same pattern every busy season. Firms that request Form 712 in the first pass of fact gathering, and that keep a simple request log tied to Schedule D lines, rarely rush. The ones that wait until review week almost always do. Use the checklists in this guide and you will feel the difference.
Who requests and who signs
- You, the executor or preparer, request the form. The insurance company prepares and signs it. For estates, obtain a separate Form 712 for every policy on the decedent’s life, including trust owned or third party owned policies if they insure the decedent.
- For gifts, attach Form 712 to the donor’s Form 709 for each policy transferred, and keep ownership and insured identifiers consistent across the return and the statement.
If the insurer declines to issue Form 712, complete the schedule and attach other evidence, for example a copy of the policy, riders, assignments, and the proceeds check, and include a short explanation. The 706 instructions explicitly allow this alternative when the company will not provide the form.
What Form 712 reports, line by line
Form 712 gives you the numbers and facts you need to support your valuation:
- Face amount and net proceeds payable at death
- Accumulated and terminal dividends
- Outstanding loans or indebtedness
- Owner and beneficiary details, plus indication of any transfer within three years
- For gifts, the insurer’s reported value as of the transfer date
Part I, Decedent, supports Schedule D on Form 706. Part II, Living Insured, supports valuation when a policy is transferred during life and reported on Form 709.
Practical tip, when you reconcile numbers, tie your Schedule D lines to the exact Form 712 lines the 706 instructions reference for lump sum payouts versus non lump sum values. That keeps review focused and short.
Using Form 712 with Form 709 for gifts
When a policy is gifted, you attach a separate insurer signed Form 712 for that policy to Form 709. Confirm the Form 712 valuation date equals the transfer date shown on the return. The insurer’s statement provides the policy’s value net of dividends and loans as of the transfer, which is what you use for the gift amount, subject to the annual exclusion and lifetime exclusion mechanics.
Key points for 2025 gifts:
- The annual exclusion is $19,000 per donee in 2025. This matters if you are gifting an interest in a policy or making premium gifts to an ILIT.
- The Form 709 instructions require you to attach Form 712 for each policy and note that in certain cases, such as paid up contracts where economic value exceeds the Form 712 line item, you must report the full economic value on Schedule A.
Checklist for clean gift filings:
- Match names, policy numbers, and dates across Form 709, your workpapers, and Form 712
- Reconcile any loans or dividends shown on Form 712 to your valuation note
- If splitting gifts, be sure both spouses follow the instructions and sign where required
- For ILIT funding, keep trustee Crummey notices and premium receipts outside Form 712, but cross reference them in your file memo for adequate disclosure on Form 709 if needed
Using Form 712 with Form 706 for estates
For estates, list every policy on the decedent’s life on Schedule D and attach a separate Form 712 for each policy. The 706 instructions tell you to request a Form 712 from the insurer for each policy and attach it to the schedule. If proceeds are paid in one sum, enter the net proceeds from the form on the schedule. If not paid in one sum, enter the date of death value from the form.
Schedule D guardrails
- Always complete Schedule D if there was any insurance on the decedent’s life, even if you believe the proceeds are not includible in the gross estate.
- Include policies payable to the estate, and also those payable to other beneficiaries where the decedent had incidents of ownership at death.
- If a policy was transferred within three years of death, coordinate Schedule D and Schedule G, and attach Form 712 to support inclusion.
Date of death values that pass review
Anchor each policy’s date of death value to the insurer’s Form 712, then mirror that figure on Schedule D. Cross check face amount, dividends, loans, and the resulting net amount. When you cannot obtain the form in time, use the policy records you have, compute the includible amount, then attach your backup and an explanation. The instructions explicitly permit this route.
Reviewer note, keep a one page “insurance roll” in your binder. List every policy, owner, beneficiary, inclusion rationale, Form 712 status, and the exact line entries. It saves partner time and stops last minute scrambles.
The three year rule and estate inclusion
Two tests drive inclusion beyond obvious estate owned policies. First, did the decedent keep any incidents of ownership at death, for example the right to change the beneficiary, borrow, surrender, or assign. Second, was there any transfer within three years of death that would bring the proceeds back into the estate under section 2035.
Transfers within three years
If a policy is transferred by the insured within three years of death, the proceeds can be pulled into the gross estate. That includes transfers to individuals or to an ILIT. Form 712 helps you document the transfer date and policy details, then you report inclusion on the estate return.
Practical planning still matters. If you intend to remove a policy from the estate, complete the transfer, make sure the insured survives more than three years, and confirm the decedent retains no incidents of ownership (such as the right to change the beneficiary, borrow, surrender, or assign), since any retained right pulls the policy back into the gross estate under section 2042. Keep clear documentation, and do not confuse paying premiums with a completed change of ownership.
Incidents of ownership
Even if the policy was not estate owned, retained rights can trigger inclusion. Section 2042 pulls proceeds into the estate when the decedent possessed incidents of ownership at death, alone or with someone else. Pay close attention to trustee powers in ILITs, corporate owned policies for controlling shareholders, and state law effects on policy rights.
How to obtain Form 712, a fast workflow
Start with the current form reference on the IRS site so your internal checklist uses the right labels and line references. Then request the insurer’s completed statement, which must be prepared and signed by the carrier (the insurer returns the signed statement to you as the requester, not directly to the IRS). For estates, include the policy number and a certified death certificate to speed verification. Order one Form 712 per policy, and match the valuation date to the filing, date of death for 706, date of transfer for 709.
A simple request checklist
- Policy number and insured name
- Owner of record at death or at transfer
- Certified death certificate for estates
- Your return due date and any extension
- Secure delivery instructions for the signed statement
If the insurer refuses to issue Form 712, file with alternate documentation, attach your computation, and explain. The 706 instructions recognize this scenario.
Operations note for busy firms
If your team hits review bottlenecks around insurance schedules, fix the process, not just the capacity. Standardize file naming, track Form 712 requests, and build a short SOP for Schedule D tie outs. If offshore support is part of your delivery model, make sure your partner works in your templates, uses structured workpapers, and flags transfer risks early so partner review is short and focused. That is the only way offshore capacity helps rather than adds noise.
Accountably integrates trained offshore teams into firm workflows with SOP driven execution, structured workpapers, and multi layer review, which is the combination that keeps Form 712 requests and tie outs predictable without sacrificing control or security. Use it when it helps you deliver on time and at quality, and only then.
Common Mistakes We See Every Season
The same handful of errors come up every estate and gift season. Each one is fixable with a short SOP step.
Reusable Checklists
The lists below are written to drop straight into your firm SOP. Print one per engagement, or paste into Canopy, Karbon, or TaxDome as a workflow template.
Form 712 request packet
- Policy number, insurer name, and policy issue date
- Insured name and date of birth
- Owner of record at the valuation date (date of death or date of transfer)
- Certified copy of the death certificate for estate requests
- Date of death or date of transfer stated in writing on the request
- Copy of any assignment so the insurer can populate line 10 of Part I
- Copy of the application if the decedent was not the policy owner
- Filing deadline reminder: 9 months after death for Form 706; April 15, 2026 for 2025 gifts on Form 709
- Secure return address naming the executor or firm as the recipient (not the IRS)
- Internal tracker entry with the request date and expected officer turnaround
Schedule D tie-out for Form 706
- Every policy on the decedent's life listed on Schedule D, including trust-owned and third-party-owned policies
- One signed Form 712 attached per policy
- Lump-sum policies: net proceeds from line 24 reconciled to the Schedule D entry
- Non-lump-sum policies: date-of-death value from line 25 reconciled to the Schedule D entry
- Line 31 reviewed for any transfer within 3 years; Schedule G coordinated if yes
- Line 34 reviewed for incidents of ownership in policies not owned by the decedent
- If the insurer refused to provide Form 712, alternate documentation attached with a short explanation, per the Form 706 instructions
- Insurance roll memo in the binder summarizing policies, owners, inclusion rationale, Form 712 status, and exact Schedule D line entries
Form 709 reconciliation for life insurance gifts
- One Form 712 attached per gifted policy on Form 709
- Form 712 Part II valuation date equals the transfer date on Schedule A
- Non-paid-up policies: line 58f net value used; paid-up or single-premium policies: line 59e net value used
- Annual exclusion check: $19,000 per donee for 2025, or $38,000 with gift-splitting
- Crummey notices and ILIT premium gifts cross-referenced in the file memo (kept outside Form 712 itself)
- Donor and donee names, policy numbers, and dates matched across Form 709, Form 712, and the workpapers
- Adequate-disclosure memo on file if the economic value reported differs from the Form 712 line item
Keep 712 Season From Stalling
Form 712 is unusual because the work is not yours, it is the insurance carrier's. Your delivery risk lives in the gap between when you request the statement and when the officer signs it back to you. The IRS itself estimates 18 hours and 11 minutes of recordkeeping plus 23 minutes of preparation per Form 712 (per the Paperwork Reduction Act notice on the form), and that is just the carrier side. With Form 706 due 9 months after the date of death (per the Form 706 instructions) and a separate Form 712 required per policy, a multi-policy estate with two slow carriers can absorb most of a quarter on the calendar alone.
The fix is not heroics in week 36, it is a request-tracking discipline that starts on the engagement letter and a workpaper standard that maps each Form 712 line to its Schedule D or Form 709 Schedule A entry before the signed statement ever arrives.
- Stand up a Form 712 request log per engagement, with policy number, carrier, request date, and expected officer turnaround, so partner review never has to ask "did we order this?"
- Pre-build the Schedule D tie-out tab so line 24 (lump-sum proceeds) or line 25 (date-of-death value) drops straight into the schedule when the signed statement comes back
- For gift returns, pre-format Part II capture cells for line 58f (non-paid-up policies) and line 59e (paid-up or single-premium policies), and reconcile them to the donor's Form 709 Schedule A in the same pass
- Flag any line 31 "yes" answer (transfer within 3 years of death) into a §2035 worksheet so Schedule G inclusion is not a last-week scramble
- For policies the decedent did not own, copy the application and any assignment into the workpaper folder when you send the original request; the Form 712 instructions require both as attachments
Accountably integrates trained offshore teams into firm workflows with documented SOPs and multi-layer review, which is the combination that keeps Form 712 requests, Schedule D tie-outs, and §2035 inclusion calls predictable across the 706 and 709 calendar. See how our taxation delivery model handles this when partner review time is the binding constraint.
FAQs
What is the purpose of Form 712
It documents the insurer’s values and policy facts for estate or gift tax reporting. You attach it to Schedule D on Form 706 or to Form 709 to substantiate your entries.
Do insurance companies provide Form 712
Yes. You request it, the insurer prepares and signs it (a facsimile signature is acceptable and binding under the form’s instructions). Provide policy identifiers, and for estates include a certified death certificate to speed processing.
Where do I get Form 712
You reference the form on the IRS site and request the completed, signed statement from the insurer. Use the insurer version for filing.
How do I report life insurance on an estate tax return
Complete Schedule D, list every policy on the decedent’s life, and attach Form 712 for each one. Follow the instructions for lump sum proceeds versus non lump sum. If you cannot get the form, file with other proof and an explanation.
What is the annual gift exclusion for 2025
The annual exclusion is $19,000 per donee for gifts made in 2025. Confirm values on Form 712 line up with what you report on Form 709.