Florida Life Study Guide

Florida’s life provisions start from the familiar NAIC skeleton and then rearrange three things a nationally-trained candidate thinks they already know: the free-look periods, the secondary market for policies, and the standard a producer owes an annuity buyer. Learn the baseline, then learn the four places Florida moves it, and this part of the 2-14 exam stops being guesswork.

The standard provisions — the baseline first

A Florida individual life policy carries a 2-year incontestability period running from the date of issue (F.S. § 627.455), a grace period of at least 30 days (§ 627.453), and a reinstatement window of 3 years from the date of premium default, available on evidence of insurability and payment of the overdue premiums (§ 627.459). The required nonforfeiture options under Florida’s Standard Nonforfeiture Law (§ 627.476) are the classic three: cash surrender value, reduced paid-up insurance, and extended term insurance.

Free looks — Florida runs a ladder, and it is not the national one

This is the highest-yield fact in the chapter, because Florida’s numbers sit where a candidate does not expect them. The free look on an individual life policy is 14 days — an unconditional right to return the policy for a full refund (§ 626.99(4)). On an annuity it is 21 days, and — the part that catches people — the same 21 days applies to fixed and variable annuities alike (§ 626.99(4)(b)). Florida does not split the annuity period by product type the way several states do.

Two products sit above both: long-term care gets 30 days (§ 627.9407(8)) and Medicare supplement gets 30 days (§ 627.674(4)). Those belong to your health material, but the ladder only makes sense read whole.

Variable contracts — one license, two regulators

Florida folds annuities and variable contracts into the 2-14 and 2-15 lines rather than issuing a separate variable line of authority. That does not mean one credential is enough. Under F.S. § 626.041, selling a variable product requires the Florida life license plus FINRA securities registration, because the contract is a security whatever the state license says. The tested shape is: state license first, securities registration alongside, never one without the other.

Viatical and life settlements — Florida regulates the secondary market

Florida has a full Viatical Settlement Act (F.S. §§ 626.9911–626.99295) governing the sale of an existing policy by its owner. The number to know is the viator’s 15-day rescission window — but the tested part is the condition attached to it. Under § 626.9924(2) the viator may rescind within 15 days after receiving the settlement proceeds, and to do it the viator must return the proceeds. A question describing someone who changes their mind on day ten and keeps the money is describing something the statute does not permit.

Annuity recommendations — best interest, by statute, since 2024

Florida adopted the NAIC best interest standard for annuity recommendations, effective 1 January 2024, in F.S. § 627.4554. A producer recommending an annuity must act in the consumer’s best interest — not merely find the product suitable — and may not place their own or the insurer’s financial interest ahead of the consumer’s. Study material written before 2024 describes the older suitability regime; if a question frames the duty as “is this suitable,” check whether it is testing the current standard or the one Florida replaced.