"Mark" wrote
IMHO any such "inherited estates" should
be used to pay current policy holders. ...

Would you be saying that if it had turned out that the inherited
estate wasn't needed, in order to pay the current policyholders
their guaranteed benefits and a reasonable return -- would you be
happy in that case to have paid *all* the IE to the shareholders?

"Mark" wrote
... One of the reasons we are in this mess is they didn't
smooth properly and paid out too much in the past.

Eh? If they *had* paid out too much in the past,
then there wouldn't *be* any inherited estates!!