Financial Statements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Financial Statements [Abstract]

Financial Statements

(1)  Financial Statements

                Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of Citizens, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP").

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts and operations of Citizens, Inc. ("Citizens"), a Colorado corporation, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, CICA Life Insurance Company of America ("CICA"), Computing Technology, Inc. ("CTI"), Insurance Investors, Inc. ("III"), Citizens National Life Insurance Company ("CNLIC"), Security Plan Life Insurance Company ("SPLIC"), and Security Plan Fire Insurance Company ("SPFIC").  Citizens and its wholly-owned subsidiaries are collectively referred to as "the Company," "we," "us" or "our."

The consolidated statements of financial position for March 31, 2012, the consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the three-month period then ended have been prepared by the Company without audit.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments to present fairly the financial position, results of operations, and changes in cash flows at March 31, 2012 and for comparative periods have been made.  The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").  Accordingly, the financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company's consolidated financial statements, and notes thereto, for the year ended December 31, 2011.  Operating results for the interim periods disclosed herein are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year or any future period.

We provide primarily life insurance and a small amount of health insurance policies through our insurance subsidiaries:  CICA, SPLIC, and CNLIC.  CICA and CNLIC issue ordinary whole-life policies, burial insurance, pre-need policies, and accident and health related policies, throughout the Midwest and southern United States.  CICA also issues ordinary whole-life policies to non-U.S. residents.  SPLIC offers final expense and home service life insurance in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi and SPFIC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SPLIC, writes a limited amount of property insurance in Louisiana.

CTI provides data processing systems and services, as well as furniture and equipment, to the Company.  III provides aviation transportation to the Company.

Reserves at March 31, 2012 include an adjustment resulting in a reserve decrease of $157,000 relating to system corrections in the life segment that were discovered during the detailed system validation as part of the implementation of the new deferred acquisition accounting standard.  In addition, we have a release of incurred but not reported liability of $500,000 related to the home service claims experience which is reducing claims expense in the current quarter.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements, in conformity with U.S. GAAP, requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.  Actual results could differ from those estimates.

The most significant estimates include those used in the evaluation of other-than-temporary impairments on debt and equity securities and valuation allowances on investments, actuarially determined liabilities and assumptions, goodwill impairment, valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, and contingencies relating to litigation and regulatory matters.  Certain of these estimates are particularly sensitive to market conditions, and deterioration and/or volatility in the worldwide debt or equity markets could have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Reclassification

Reclassifications have been made in the current year related to certain prior year reported amounts to provide consistent presentation.

Significant Accounting Policies

For a description of significant accounting policies, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in our 2011 Form 10-K Annual Report, which should be read in conjunction with these accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements.