A beneficiary is a person who receives anything you own that you’d like to leave behind. As far as life insurance goes, a life insurance beneficiary is the person, trust, business, or charity who receives the proceeds of your policy (usually a lump sum of money). Who you name as a beneficiary is up to you, but beneficiaries are typically immediate family members who depend on you financially.
You can also name multiple beneficiaries if you want to spread the love. And since it's your policy, you can divide the death benefit between them however you'd like!
Keep in mind that while it’s possible to name children (or any minors) as beneficiaries, the death benefit can’t go directly to anyone under the age of 18. In the case that a minor is named as a beneficiary at the time of the insured’s death, the death benefit will be payable to an adult family member or legal guardian of the minor.
You can learn more about beneficiaries via our What is a beneficiary? And other burning questions answered blog post.