can spouse touch life ins left to children?

by picklesandchampagne » Wed May 20, 2009 02:06 am

I have been amicably separated from my husband of 18 years for 4.5 years. I took out a 100k life insurance policy on myself which I pay for.

I have two children...13 and 17 that I have as the beneficiaries. Is he entitled to the management of those benefits if I die and the children are still minors?

Is he entitled to the Florida spousal 30% of the benefits since we are still legally married?

He cannot manage money at all. My fear is that he can take those benefits and spend them improperly just by virtue of the fact that he would be the remaining parent.

Total Comments: 57

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 02:01 am Post Subject: insurance

your son is the contingent beneficiary which means that he gets absolutely nothing.

i was told, in the state of PA, since my son is STILL a Minor, he cannot be 'Primary' Beneficiary. I have my best friend as 'Primary' right now. Was I told incorrect information?

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 09:22 am Post Subject:

Well, I think that the laws regarding appointing beneficiary in a life insurance plan is somewhat uniform across the states. Therefore, if naming a minor as beneficiary with an appointed guardian/trust to hold fund till the minor reaches the legal age is allowed in other states it should be the same in PA as well.

However, Sd you must also wait for the expert’s to comment on this issue.

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:05 am Post Subject:

i was told, in the state of PA, since my son is STILL a Minor, he cannot be 'Primary' Beneficiary. I have my best friend as 'Primary' right now. Was I told incorrect information?


You can name a minor as the beneficiary but the insurance company will not pay the proceeds to a minor child.

They will hold those funds in trust for the minor child until the child reaches age 18.

The guardian of the minor child would then only be able to access those funds by way of court order.

SD your "best freind" being named as beneficary is a mistake. If you die it's her money NOT your son's. I don't care how much you may trust this person...people change when people die.

Not to mention the fact if you die the life insurance money is hers, then if she dies that money goes to her family NOT your son.

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:37 am Post Subject:

Gary's totally correct on this SD, we've tried to caution you about this. I know I know that you love and trust her, and everything could work out just as you want, until SHE dies... as Gary pointed out all that money then goes to her kids/estate and there is dang little if anything you could do to prevent it, (well YOU couldnt' do anything you'd be dead...but you know what i mean :wink: )...

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:03 pm Post Subject:

Since I've been on this board, SDCharger, you have been told at least 10 times that your son gets nothing when you die if he isn't the PRIMARY beneficiary or if a trust for his benefit is not the primary beneficiary.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 04:30 pm Post Subject: insurance

I hate to disagree,..but...i was told differently by the Insurance company I have my policy through.........it's a 401 (K) through my employment. I've spoken to several people ( on our Insurance board).

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 06:57 pm Post Subject:

I hate to disagree,..but...i was told differently by the Insurance company I have my policy through.........it's a 401 (K) through my employment. I've spoken to several people ( on our Insurance board).


SD a 401k qualified pension plan and a life insurance policy are not one and the same thing.

Regardless, they both have beneficiary designations and if you name your girlfriend as beneficiary it's her money not your son's.

I don't know why you argue with us all the time OR why you post such non-sense. We have no reason to give you incorrect information AND if we did there would be dozens of people who would post and challenge the incorrect information.

:arrow: But feel free to believe anything you want. :wink:

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 07:05 pm Post Subject:

Not that SD will bother going to the link below or even bother reading the information but below are the facts regarding beneficiary designations on 401Ks.

Update Your Beneficiaries
by Denise Appleby,CISP, CRC, CRPS, CRSP, APA

Click THIS LINKY.

Have you checked your beneficiary designation for your retirement account recently? If not, you may find that your designated beneficiary is not who or what you think it should be, especially if you have divorced, remarried or had children since your retirement plan account was established. If a long time ago you named a charity as your beneficiary, the charity may no longer exist. While many of us ensure that other important documents such as wills are updated on a frequent basis, we tend to neglect our retirement-account beneficiary designations. Your retirement accounts are not part of your estate and generally not governed by the provisions of your will, so it is important to keep these retirement documents updated.

Outdated Beneficiary Designations
There have been numerous cases of retirement-account owners who have been divorced and remarried but have neglected to update their beneficiary designations accordingly. This can be quite frustrating for their survivors, who must battle in court for a legal determination of the true beneficiary. The court's decision, however, may not necessarily be what the deceased would have wanted.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 07:21 pm Post Subject:

Gary...I went to your site and now understand the difference between a will and a living trust. Thanks so much for the info. I am now going to designate my BF as the trust guardian. In the horrible event that both me and my children were killed in a car accident or something I have designated my brother as my alternate beneficiary.

I was especially glad that I read your site because I do not want anything probated and I was under the impression that a will was a will was a will and did not understand that it HAD to be probated, but do now.

Just to doublecheck, do I understand correctly that a living trust does not have to be probated? And also, can any outstanding debt I may have(car etc.) be attached to those proceeds?

do not have a mortgage so that fortunately is not an issue.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 11:48 pm Post Subject: insurance

On BOTH my Life Insurance policy ( through the Military) AND my 401 (K), I have my son as 'Secondary' because he is a minor. I have my POA as 'Primary' for both.

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