The policy holder can keep anyone he wants as the beneficiary of the policy. The law can't prevent that. Also, if he was liable for child support, the divorce decree may have had required him to maintain his ex-wife as a beneficiary in a life policy.
However, you may have the provision to contest the beneficiary issue if he hasn't maintained any relation with his ex-wife afterwards. Consulting an attorney may help you in understanding your position better. However, there is no standard law in this regard.
There is a concept called "insurable interest" involved here. The beneficially needs to have an insurable interest at the time he or she becomes the beneficiary.
There is a presumption that a spouse has an insurable interest. If they get divorced later, there is no legal requirement that the ex spouse be removed from the policy.
My guess is that this is governed by contract law and the insurance company will be required to pay who ever the beneficiary is at the time of the insured's deatlh.
It is quite rightly said that there is no legal obligation that the ex-spouse should automatically be removed from the 'beneficiary' status as soon as the partners are divorced.
But by saying that we should not miss out on the fact that it is a common confusion with most of the beneficiaries & the other descendants. They would often start believing that since the policy holder was divorced at the time of death, they would automatically gain the status of a 'beneficiary'.
I'd rather believe that this confusion occurs since most people won't got through the policy clauses while signing up for a policy & as a result don't understand the obligations of an insurer towards a "named beneficiary".
Regards, Fatman
Is there a law that exists in Ohio that an ex-wife cannot collect the life insurance on a deceased ex-husband, although she is the sole beneficiary?
There can be an issue in some states if this is a policy thru your employer and there is a 'new' wife, although the ex wife is a named beneficary on the policy...if this is the case, you have to sign a new form that in essence says, 'yep, i know i have a new wife, but i STILL want my ex wife to be the beneficary' again, if you are remarried on SOME policys in SOME states, the 'assumption' is that you just 'forgot' to change it to your new wife...so you (once more) if you have a new wife, you need to double check this out... _________________ **************************************
Life gaurantees a chance NOT a fair shake
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Hi, the insurer or the state law doesn't eliminate the ex-spouse automatically from the policy holder's life policy. The duty to upgrade the insurance requirements rests upon the policy holder.
Jennifer may be your husband has wished to continue maintaining his ex-spouse as the beneficiary on the policy, and accordingly has maintained her name on the policy document.
Hi, see, the rule is pretty clear over here.
The policy holder has the right to put anyone as the "named-beneficiary". The best thing is to find out whether this person had left a will or for that matter testament. You'd need to check with the county court of the place the deceased had died in order to know if at all the will got filed. In case he had left one, it would have been filed by the executor within 30 days from the death. ArindamSenIndies
Hi, under circumstances that he had no will, the children would hire an attorney & consult the estate for probate in order to manage a fair share of other assets that he might have left for them. Fatman
There are certain situations wherein you'd need to get your situation scrutinized by an attorney who is operating from within your jurisdiction. In order to preserve your important rights you'd need to get it checked without losing much of your invaluable time. I've seen many attorneys offering free consultation services or for that matter inexpensive consultation. At least through an initial consultation, you'd get an idea of whether it is beneficial or not. Wish you all the very best! Evan
Missouri my hometown state has a probate practice attorney law regarding this issue that Lori and I argued about right off the bat on this board.
We both were right.
The "Show-me" state has taken big brother gubment to a new low while Florida still believes people know they are divorcing and if they don't want their ex to get the life insurance benefit then change the beneficiary designation
461.051. 1. If, after an owner makes a beneficiary designation, the owner's marriage is dissolved or annulled, any provision of the beneficiary designation in favor of the owner's former spouse or a relative of the owner's former spouse is revoked on the date the marriage is dissolved or annulled, whether or not the beneficiary designation refers to marital status. The beneficiary designation shall be given effect as if the former spouse or relative of the former spouse had disclaimed the revoked provision.
THAT is a pathetic piece of legislation.
There are many reasons why someone may still want their ex-spouse as a beneficiary. That legislation does nothing more than cause a non-probate asset to be caught up in the probate court system whereby NO ONE can ask the owner of the policy since they're dead. _________________ Gary Spicuzza, *SAFE
Copyright 1956.
No rights reserved.
*Self Appointed Financial Expert
And neither of us know for sure about Ohio, so would be a good idea to check this out... _________________ **************************************
Life gaurantees a chance NOT a fair shake
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FIND a way EVERY day to lighten the load of another
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