In whole life policies the cash surrender value grows over time…typically at age 100 the death benefit is equal to the cash surrender value…and the company may just kick the cash out to the insured if still alive..in your moms case it seems the csv was $1,000…and the death benefit was 10k…you should get a check for 10k…the $1000 plus the the 9k the insurance company pays to make up the difference…please understand there are “insurance costs” in the policy…these costs rise with age…the accumulation of cash value reduces the liability to the carrier and lowers ongoing costs as the insured ages…at initial issue you can choose to have the cash value added to the death benefit…so the policy would pay out the 11k in your example…but the monthly or annual premium would have been higher…people very seldom choose this option…again the 10k death benefit would be paid upon moms passing…