I hear many employers are taking life insurance policies out on their employees with the hope that they'll die within a certain timeframe. Is it true that they don't have to tell you about this evil, greedy, despicable act unless you ask them?

You mean to say you hear the WERE many years ago? Because they don't and they aren't. Regardless, why would you care? If I buy a life insurance policy on you then it's my premium going into the policy, so I get the death benefit if you die. It's only evil and greedy if I encourage you to smoke, push you down the stairs, slip anti-freeze in your Kool-Aid, etc...

Is it true that they don't have to tell you about this evil, greedy, despicable act unless you ask them?

No, it's not true. The COLI Best Practices Provision, within The Pension Protection Act of 2006, was signed into law on August 17, 2006. The provision has notice and consent requirements that must be followed.

The Employee must :

Be notified in writing that the employer intends to insure the employee’s life and the maximum face amount for which the employee could be insured at the time the contract is issued.

Provide written consent to be insured under the contract during and after active employment.

Be informed in writing that the employer will be the beneficiary of any death benefits...

You look at the date of birth on your driver's license. If it says that you were born after "dead peasant" insurance became illegal, or that you were born less than 15 years before "dead peasant" insurance became illegal, then your employer does not have a dead peasant insurance policy on you. If it says that you were born more than 20 years before dead peasant insurance became illegal, then it is theoretically possible, but still very unlikely.

There are probably more questions about dead peasant insurance posted on Yahoo Answers every year than there are dead peasant insurance policies left in the entire country.

No companies are taking out dead peasant insurance on regular employees. It has been illegal for many years.

A few companies are taking out insurance policies on senior executives to protect themselves from financial losses caused by the death of an executive. And those senior executives definitely know about it, because they are so high up in the company that they would know everything the company does, even if it did not involve them personally. And most companies are not even doing that.

You check which country you live in, and stop watching Michael Moore movies.

Dead Peasant policies were outlawed in the USA about 30 years ago.

It is true and very legal. Unfortunately Republicans have blocked every legislative attempt to ban the practice.