Life insurance is subject to estate tax if the insured person owns or controls the life insurance contract (policy) in anyway. Therefore, estate taxation of life insurance often can be avoided if the insured is willing to part with all "incidents of ownership" in the policy. "Incidents of ownership" include all rights to benefit from or control the insurance policy. Thus, for example, they include the right to change the beneficiary; the right to borrow against the policy; the right to surrender the policy for its cash value; and the right to pledge the policy as collateral for a loan.