What Is a Secondary Beneficiary? A secondary beneficiary, also known as a contingent beneficiary, is a person or entity that inherits assets under a will, trust, or account (e.g., insurance policy or annuity) when the primary beneficiary dies before the grantor.Click to see full answer. Also know, what does it mean to be a secondary beneficiary?A secondary beneficiary is a person or entity who inherits assets under a will, trust, or insurance policy if the primary beneficiary dies before the grantor. A secondary beneficiary is also a person’s second choice of who should receive the proceeds from a life insurance policy.Additionally, what is the difference between a primary and a secondary beneficiary? Your primary beneficiary is the individual who is first in line to receive any account assets after you pass away. The secondary or the contingent beneficiary may be eligible to get the remaining account assets so long as there are no other surviving primary beneficiaries when you pass away. Moreover, can you have two primary beneficiaries on life insurance? You Can Have Multiple Beneficiaries. For example, you can have two primary beneficiaries and three contingent beneficiaries. Or you can have five primary beneficiaries and no contingent beneficiaries. There are no limits to the number of beneficiaries you designate, as long as each one has an insurable interest.How many beneficiaries can you have on a life insurance policy?The beneficiary of your life insurance policy is the individual who will receive the benefit in the event of your death. You’re not limited to just one person. A policy can have more than one beneficiary. A policy’s primary beneficiary is the first person who will receive the benefits of that policy when you die.