A type of annuity that guarantees benefit payments for a designated period of time. A period-certain annuity might cover a small period of time or a longer period of time. During this specified time, benefits from the annuity are paid to the policyholder until the expiration date on the annuity has been reached. If a policyholder dies during the timeframe selected for the period-certain annuity, the descendant's beneficiary will continue to receive the annuity payments until the expiration date. For example, if a policyholder selected a 20 year period and died during year 15, the beneficiary would continue to receive payments for 5 years.