Robert Louis Stevenson wrote an extremely funny novel about Tontines, which are a variant of what you suggest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrong_Box_(nov

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote an extremely funny novel about Tontines, which are a variant of what you suggest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrong_Box_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrong_Box_(novel) Just like with life insurance, there is some opportunity for abuse...