The accelerated death benefit is an included feature in term life insurance policies. If you were to become terminally ill and were expected to die within a year, you could qualify for this feature. There is no additional charge for this. It's included in your premium already. According to AIG's ADB form: the Terminal Illness Benefit is a one time acceleration of up to 50% of the death benefit proceeds payable under the base policy, but not to exceed $250,000. Basically you can get up to half of your death benefit ($250,000 maximum) if you were diagnosed as being terminally ill. This could replace the income you would have made during this time or could be used for funeral and burial arrangements. It's a nice thing to have in this awful kind of situation. And, you don't have to pay anything extra for it.

You are not obligated to use the ADB if it doesn't interest you. You might want to let your beneficiaries know what steps to take once you do pass away to ensure that they can obtain the death benefit. The insurance company won't know if you are terminally or not unless you specifically contact them and ask for the accelerated death benefit. It's there if you need or not, even if you are terminally ill and don't need it. I hope this helps.