What This License Is
The Texas Life Agent license, issued by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), authorizes you to sell life insurance and annuity contracts. It is the narrower sibling of the General Lines — Life, Accident & Health license: same life-and-annuity authority, but no health insurance — Texas has no standalone health license at all, so any health business requires stepping up to General Lines.
Annuities are included; variable products are not automatic — they stack a FINRA registration (Series 6 or 7, plus Series 63) on top of the Texas life license.
Choose this license when your role is purely life-and-annuity — final expense, mortgage protection, annuity-focused practices. If a benefits or Medicare conversation is anywhere in your future, compare the General Lines exam in the next section before you schedule.
Exam Options & Format
The Life Agent exam is administered by Pearson VUE at test centers across Texas (there is no online-proctored option — Texas discontinued remote testing for insurance exams in 2024). The exam runs 80 scored questions — 50 on general life knowledge, 30 on Texas law — plus 10 unscored pretest items, with a 2-hour limit and a $39 fee paid when you book. A Spanish version is available, and ESL candidates may request extended time.
Texas scores on a scaled 0–100 basis with 70 to pass — a 70 is a statistical standard, not "70% of questions correct," so don't try to reverse-engineer how many you can miss.
The broader alternative is the General Lines — Life, Accident & Health exam: 130 scored questions (100 general + 30 Texas), 2 hours 30 minutes, $49. Ten more dollars and fifty more questions buys the full health side of the business.
One calendar note: Pearson VUE's refreshed Texas content outlines take effect September 1, 2026 — same question counts, updated topic weighting. If you're studying across that date, work from the current outline linked below.
Most Tested Topics on the Texas Life Exam
The 30 Texas-law questions concentrate on the numbers below — drawn from the TESTivity Texas regulations curriculum and verified against the Texas Insurance Code:
| Concept | The Texas rule |
|---|---|
| Incontestability | 2 years from date of issue |
| Grace period (individual life) | 31 days — Texas uses 31, not the 30 most states use |
| Reinstatement | 3 years from lapse |
| Suicide exclusion | Up to 2 years |
| Free look — individual life | 10 days |
| Free look — deferred annuity | 20 days — an odd number unique to Texas |
| Free look — replacement | 30 days, with an unconditional full refund |
| Nonforfeiture options | Cash surrender value, reduced paid-up, extended term |
| Variable products | Texas life license plus FINRA Series 6 or 7 and Series 63 |
| Annuity sales standard | Texas has adopted the NAIC best-interest standard |
The two giveaway-turned-trap numbers: Texas's 31-day grace period (candidates trained on national material answer 30) and the 20-day deferred-annuity free look (most states use 10 or 30). If a Texas question offers both 30 and 31, or both 10 and 20, that's the exam checking whether you studied Texas.
Applying for Your License — Every Step (Application First!)
Texas runs its licensing paperwork in an order that catches people out: you submit the application before you fingerprint, because TDI's fingerprint service code only exists once your application registers. The full sequence:
Step 1 — Pass the Life Agent exam. You'll leave the test center with an official score report in hand. Your pass is valid for 12 months; the application must be complete inside that window or you retake the exam.
Step 2 — File the application online. Texas accepts Sircon (sircon.com/texas) or NIPR (nipr.com) — either works for a resident Life Agent application; the state fee is $50 per license type, plus the portal's transaction fee. Answer every background question truthfully and attach documentation for any "yes" — nondisclosure is its own ground for denial, separate from whatever you didn't disclose.
Step 3 — Watch your email for the fingerprint service code. Once TDI registers your application, it emails you a personal IdentoGO service code. This is the current process — older guides (and older versions of this site) list a universal code; that's obsolete. The Personal Lines guide walks the fingerprint appointment itself step by step.
Step 4 — Fingerprint, then send the receipt. After your IdentoGO appointment, attach a copy of the receipt showing your prints went to the Texas DPS. Keep the original.
Step 5 — Track processing. TDI processes filings in the order received and publishes a live "currently processing filings received on…" date on its Agent & Adjuster Licensing processing-dates page — check that instead of calling. Questions: license@tdi.texas.gov or 512-676-6500.
Step 6 — Verify and go. Approval shows on TDI's license lookup and your national producer record; carriers appoint you electronically ($10 per additional company appointment).
What It Costs
The cheapest full producer path in Texas: $39 to Pearson VUE per attempt, roughly $40 to IdentoGO for fingerprinting (the exact current fee displays when you book), and $50 to TDI with the application — about $130 on a first-attempt pass. There is no pre-licensing course to buy, and with unlimited $39 retakes, good prep materials are the only other line item worth budgeting.
Eligibility Requirements
You must be at least 18. Texas runs fingerprint-based DPS and FBI background checks on every resident applicant; a history involving fraud or breach of trust can support denial, and the felony-disclosure rules under the Insurance Code are unforgiving of omissions. Disclose, document, and let TDI evaluate the actual record.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: At least 3 of the 24 hours must be ethics, and at least half the hours must be classroom or classroom-equivalent. Missing hours draw a $50-per-hour fine, capped at $500 per license.
Texas licenses run two years, expiring with your birth month, and require 24 CE hours per period including 3 hours of ethics — with a rule most states don't have: at least half the hours must be classroom or classroom-equivalent, so you can't do it all as self-study. Annuity sellers also owe Texas's best-interest training. The complete renewal machinery — deadlines, the $50-per-hour deficiency fines, the late tiers, and the 20-year exemption — is covered in the P&C guide and applies identically here.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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