Beneficiary Legal Meaning and Definition

Here is a simplified definition of the legal term Beneficiary.

Beneficiary (n)

A beneficiary is a person who will receive benefits such as money, property, or other assets from a will, trust, insurance policy, or other type of legal agreement. This individual is usually named or identified within these documents. For example, if a person's grandmother writes in her will that she leaves her house to her granddaughter, the granddaughter is the beneficiary of the grandmother's will. Even if the beneficiary is not specifically named, as in some legal situations, they still stand to receive benefits according to the stipulations of the agreement.