by sweetheather27 » Mon Sep 16, 2013 03:11 am
My mother passed & my ex-step dad is the executor. When the question of any life insurance policies came up my ex-step dad said my uncle (moms brother) called the claims office regarding this matter. The beneficiary list went as follows....step-dad, moms brother, moms sister, daughter. When my uncle informed them that my step dad was divorced from my mom, they sent a portion of the life insurance to my uncle & the other to my aunt. My question is if two beneficiaries were paid, wouldn't I also have a part interest to be paid out as well?
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 05:09 am Post Subject:
In some states, divorce sometimes revokes insurance beneficiary designations. Please check with your state laws and moreover, what is written in the insurance papers if you have access to that.
Since life insurance is never a part of someone's estate, the money should go tho whoever is named as beneficiary.
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 01:47 pm Post Subject:
My question is if two beneficiaries were paid, wouldn't I also have a part interest to be paid out as well?
Maybe, maybe not. In order for you to receive money from a life insurance policy you have to be on the same "level" as the other beneficiary(ies)."Step-dad" was probably the primary beneficiary, with "Brother" and "Sister" listed as contingent beneficiaries. "Daughter" might have been listed as a "tertiary" beneficiary rather than as a "contingent". If that's true, then Daughter has no claim to any portion of the life insurance proceeds.
Why mom would value her brother and sister more highly than her own daughter? is a question only mom can answer, and she's dead, so we'll never know the answer.
You can always call the insurance company and ask what position you were in at the time of your mother's death. Step-dad was, if legally divorced from mom at the time of her death, probably revoked as primary beneficiary automatically when the divorce was made final by operation of state law, because 22 or 23 states now have such laws in their Probate Codes. That action automatically elevates the contingent beneficiary(ies) to primary status, and everyone below them moves up a notch as well.
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