Don’t treat death as a way to settle debts: life insurance won’t pay out for suicides within two years, workplace injuries won’t be recognized, and debts are still deducted from your estate first.

There’s no direct expense — you just need to run the numbers.

Article 44 of the Insurance Law governs contracts where death is the condition for payout. Within two years of the contract’s effective date, if the insured commits suicide, the insurer is not obligated to pay the full benefit amount. However, the insurer must return the policy’s cash value — essentially the amount that can be refunded — rather than the full coverage sum. Life insurance payouts typically reach 100,000 yuan, which is why this benefit is classified as significant. Article 16, Paragraph 3 of the Work Injury Insurance Regulations states that self-harm or suicide does not qualify as a workplace injury, thereby disqualifying victims from receiving any of the three types of compensation outlined in Article 39: a funeral subsidy equal to six months of local average monthly wages, survivor’s allowances, and a one-time death benefit equal to 20 times the previous year’s national per capita disposable income for urban residents. Meanwhile, Article 1159 of the Civil Code mandates that estate distribution must first settle any legally required taxes and debts, meaning those obligations are deducted from the estate before any shares are allocated. Article 1161 further clarifies that heirs are only responsible for debts up to the actual value of the inherited assets; they aren’t personally liable beyond that, and those who decline inheritance bear no such obligations.

全国人大常委会 (2015 修正). 中华人民共和国保险法第四十四条. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=2c909fdd678bf17901678bf7c4060811；国务院 (2010 修订). 工伤保险条例（国务院令第 586 号）第十六条、第三十九条. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2011/content_1778064.htm；全国人大 (2020). 中华人民共和国民法典第一千一百五十九条、第一千一百六十一条. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808081729d1efe01729d50b5c500bf

This entry focuses solely on the financial implications. Other sections and Section 1 emphasize avoiding such scenarios altogether. Article 44 of the Insurance Law applies only to the first two years post-policy issuance; it is included here for completeness, not as a strict timeline. The health impacts on family members are detailed in Section 4. For coping strategies when suicidal thoughts arise, refer to Sections 1, Items 25 and 32; information on post-recovery complications can be found in Section 1, Item 33. The exact amounts for the three types of work injury benefits are specified in Section 19, Item 16. Procedures for accessing housing provident fund and social insurance payouts from an estate are outlined in Section 25, Item 9.