FORM S-8

            Registration Statement Under The Securities Act of 1933

                             Torchmark Corporation
            (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


                    Delaware                         63-0780404
          (State or other jurisdiction            (I.R.S. Employer
              or incorporation or                Identification No.)
                 organization)


              2001 Third Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama  35233
           (Address of Principal Executives Offices)      (Zip Code)


              Liberty National Life Insurance Company 401(k) Plan
                           (Full title of the plan)


                              William C. Barclift
             Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
                    Liberty National Life Insurance Company
                            2001 Third Avenue South
                              Birmingham, AL 35233
                    (Name and address of agent for service)

                                (205) 325-2780
         (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
                        Calculation of Registration Fee


- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Titles of                Amount to be    Proposed             Proposed              Amount
Securities to            registered      maximum              maximum               of
be registered                            offering             aggregate offering    registration
                                         price per unit/1/    price                 fee
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
Torchmark Corporation    200,000         $44                  $8,800,000            $3,034.48
Common Stock             shares


   In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement also covers an indeterminate amount of interests to be
offered or sold pursuant to the employee benefit plan described herein.

- ---------------
/1/Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(c) and (h)(1) based upon the average of the
high and low prices reported for Torchmark Corporation common stock in the
consolidated reporting system on December 21, 1995.


 
                                 PART II

               Information Required in the Registration Statement

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference

          Torchmark Corporation (the "Registrant" or the "Company") and the
Liberty National Life Insurance Company 401(k) Plan (the "Plan") hereby
incorporate by reference into this Registration Statement the following
documents:

          (a)(1) Registrant's latest annual report on Form 10-K filed pursuant
                 to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the
                 most recent fiscal year

          (a)(2) The Plan's latest annual annual report on Form 11-K filed
                 pursuant to Section 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
                 1934 for the most recent fiscal year

          (b)    All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of
                 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 since the end of the fiscal
                 year covered by the Registrant document referenced to in (a)
                 above

          (c)    The description of Registrant's common stock contained in the
                 Form 10 Registration Statement filed under the Securities and
                 Exchange Act of 1934, including any amendment or report filed
                 for the purpose of updating such description.

          All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant or the Plan
pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that
all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then
remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement and to be a part thereof from the date of filing of such
documents.

Item 4.  Description of Securities.
 
     The class of securities to be offered is registered under Section 12 of the
     Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

     Not Applicable.

Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

     Section 1 of Article Ninth of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of
the Registrant provides that a director will not be personally liable to the
Registrant or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty
as a director except

 
for liability (a) for any breach of the duty of loyalty to the Registrant or its
stockholders, (b) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve
intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (c) for paying a dividend
or approving a stock repurchase in violation of the Delaware General Corporation
Law (the "Act"), or (d) for any transaction from which the director derived an
improper personal benefit.

     Section 2(a) of Article Ninth provides that each person who was or is made
a party or is threatened to be made a party to, or is involved in, specific
actions, suits or proceedings by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a
director or officer of the Registrant (or is or was serving at the request of
the Registrant as a director, officer, employee or agent for another entity)
while serving in such capacity will be indemnified and held harmless by the
Registrant, to the full extent authorized by the Act, as in effect (or, to the
extent indemnification is broadened, as it may be amended) against all expense,
liability or loss (including attorneys' fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise
taxes or penalties and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably
incurred by such person in connection therewith.  With respect to derivative
actions, indemnification only extends to expenses (including attorneys' fees)
incurred in connection with defense or settlement of such an action and the Act
requires court approval before there can be any indemnification where the person
seeking indemnification has been found liable to the Registrant.  Rights
conferred hereby are contract rights and include the right to be paid by the
Registrant the expenses incurred in defending the proceedings specified above,
in advance of their final disposition; provided that, if the Act so requires,
such payment will only be made upon delivery to the Registrant by the
indemnified party of an undertaking to repay all amounts advanced if it is
ultimately determined that the person receiving such payments is not entitled to
be indemnified under such Section 2(a) or otherwise.  The Registrant may, by
action of its Board of Directors, provide indemnification to its employees and
agents with the same scope and effect as the foregoing indemnification of
directors and officers.

     Section 2(b) of Article Ninth provides that persons indemnified under
Section 2(a) may bring suit against the Registrant to recover unpaid amounts
claimed thereunder, and that if such suit is successful, the expense of bringing
such suit will be reimbursed by the Registrant.  While it is a defense to such a
suit that the person claiming indemnification has not met the applicable
standards of conduct making indemnification permissible under the Act, the
burden of proving the defense is on the Registrant and neither the failure of
the Registrant's Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or the
shareholders to have made a determination that indemnification is proper, nor an
actual determination that the claimant has not met the applicable standard of
conduct.

     The right to indemnification and the payment of expenses incurred in
defending a proceeding in advance of its final


 
disposition conferred in paragraphs 2(a) and 2(b) of Article Ninth is not
exclusive of any other right which any person may have or acquire under any
statute, provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws, or otherwise.
The Registrant may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and any
directors, officers, employees or agents of the Registrant or other entity
against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Registrant would have
the power to indemnify such persons against such expense, liability or loss
under the Act.


Item 7.   Exemption from Registration Claimed.

     Not Applicable.


Item 8.   Exhibits.
 
     (4)(a)  Liberty National Life Insurance Company 401(k) Plan, as amended

     (23)    Consent of KPMG Peat Marwick to incorporation by reference of their
             audit report of February 1, 1995 into the Form S-8 Registration
             Statement for the Liberty National Life Insurance Company 401(k)
             Plan

     (24)    Powers of attorney

     The Registrant will submit the Plan and any amendments thereto to the
Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") in a timely manner and has made or will make
all changes required by the IRS in order to qualify the Plan.


Item 9.   Undertakings.

     (a)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

     (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a
          post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

     (i)  To include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of the
Securities Act of 1933;

     (ii)  To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the
effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective
amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a
fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities
offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that
which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the
estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus
filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the
changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum
aggregate offering price set forth in the "Calculation of Registration Fee"



 
table in the effective registration statement.

     (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the plan of
distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any
material change to such information in the registration statement;

     (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be
a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

     (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any
of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the
offering.
 
     (b)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an
employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the
registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at the time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     (e)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to deliver or cause to be
delivered with the prospectus, to each person to whom the prospectus is sent or
given, the latest annual report to security holders that is incorporated by
reference in the prospectus and furnished pursuant to and meeting the
requirements of Rule 14a-3 or Rule 14c-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934; and, where interim financial information required to be presented by
Article 3 of Regulation S-X are not set forth in the prospectus, to deliver, or
cause to be delivered to each person to whom the prospectus is sent or given,
the latest quarterly report that is specifically incorporated by reference in
the prospectus to provide such interim financial information.

     (h)  Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director,



 
officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.




 
                                   SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration
statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Birmingham, State of Alabama, on December 28, 1995.

                                    TORCHMARK CORPORATION



                              By:  /s/ R. K. Richey
                                  -------------------------------
                                    R. K. Richey
                                    Chairman, Chief Executive
                                    Officer and Director


                                   /s/ Keith A. Tucker
                                  ------------------------------
                                    Keith A. Tucker
                                    Vice Chairman and Director
                                    (Principal Financial Officer)


                                   /s/ Gary L. Coleman
                                  ------------------------------
                                    Gary L. Coleman
                                    Vice President and Chief
                                    Accounting Officer

 
     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the date indicated.


- ------------------------------      --------------------------------
J. P. Bryan, Director               Joseph L. Lanier, Jr., Director


               *                                  *
- ------------------------------      --------------------------------
Joseph M. Farley, Director          Harold T. McCormick, Director

 
               *                                  *
- ------------------------------      --------------------------------
Louis T. Hagopian, Director         Joseph W. Morris, Director


                                                  *
- ------------------------------      --------------------------------
C. B. Hudson, Director              George J. Records, Director


               *                    
- ------------------------------      
Yetta G. Samford, Jr. Director

 
*By:/s/ William C. Barclift         Date:  December 28, 1995
    --------------------------                              
   William C. Barclift,
   Attorney-in-fact

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the trustee has
duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Birmingham, State of
Alabama, on December 28, 1995.


                                    LIBERTY NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE
                                       COMPANY 401(K) PLAN
 
                                    By: LIBERTY NATIONAL LIFE
                                        INSURANCE COMPANY, as 
                                        Trustee



                                    By:/s/ Anthony L. McWhorter
                                       ----------------------------
                                       Anthony L. McWhorter
                                       President