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: Sat May 23, 2009 09:11 pm Post Subject: insurance

AGAIN...I'll repeat myself. My POA IS my Benefciary, along with my son. If, for some reason, you don't agree how a Military Life insurance policy is to be written up, you can contact the 99th RSC ( my battalion) and ask for the Jag office. We update Wills/Life Insurance policies, etc, on a constant basis. The 99th is located in Oakdale, PA. I don't have the number...I'm sure you can Google it. According to THEM, I CAN my POA as my Beneficiary. If you need to question what the Military does, you can direct your questions to THEM.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 12:33 am Post Subject:

AGAIN...I'll repeat myself. My POA IS my Benefciary, along with my son. If, for some reason, you don't agree how a Military Life insurance policy is to be written up, you can contact the 99th RSC ( my battalion) and ask for the Jag office. We update Wills/Life Insurance policies, etc, on a constant basis. The 99th is located in Oakdale, PA. I don't have the number...I'm sure you can Google it. According to THEM, I CAN my POA as my Beneficiary. If you need to question what the Military does, you can direct your questions to THEM.



Please repeat yourself again because I'm trying very hard to understand, but clarification is needed.

What SPECIFICALLY does your primary beneficiary designation say?

Does it say "Power of Attorney"?
Does it say "Mary Smith" (or whatever your friend's name happens to be)?

If it says "Power of Attorney", it is completely nonsensical, because your POA dies when you do, thus, it is impossible for your POA to control any money post-death.

If it says "Mary Smith", the fact that she's your POA is irrelevant. At your death, the money will belong to Mary Smith. From a legal standpoint, your wishes don't mean squat. Morally, she may want to do what you want, but certain financial issues can make that impossible.

Also, you have used language "and my son" and "along with my son". However, you have stated that your son can't be a primary beneficiary. Is he a primary beneficiary? If not, his beneficary status doesn't mean anything unless your friend dies before you.

Please answer the specific questions. I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm trying to be helpful. It's very clear to those of us with insurance knowledge that you have a fundemental misunderstanding.

Even if you can't put your son as the primary beneficiary (and I'd bet big money that you can), there is an easy way around this. Naming a friend is not the way around this.

In 20 years, I can't ever recall seeing a beneficiary designation that was ok for a contingent and not ok for a primary beneficiary.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 12:40 pm Post Subject:

I am not the insurance expert(which is why I am on here...LOL), but SD my children are my primary beneficiaries(share and share alike). There is absolutely no reason that your son cannot be the primary. I don't understand why you would not name him as the primary. I don't trust anyone(even their father) to handle THEIR money if something happens to me.

I suggest you get him named as primary quickly. Otherwise somebody will be enjoying your proceeds, but it won't be your son.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 12:58 pm Post Subject: insurance

OK..I'll explain it AGAIN. My son is a Minor. I DO have a 'Primary Beneficary'. BECAUSE my son is a Minor, I CANNOT put him as 'Primary Beneficiary'. Remember..this is a MILITARY Life insurance policy I deal with. My POA ( who is my best friend) is my 'Primary Beneficiary'. We update our Life Insurance policies every 6 months ( if we need to). We actually have Insurance experts, for the Miltary, look over our Life insurance (who is Primary, Secondary, etc.) to see if we need to make any changes, if their written correctly, etc.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 01:18 pm Post Subject:

sdchargersfan you are simply confused with the facts and you post the same non-sense all the time. That being said I'm going to give a brief explanation of the five Estate Planning documents a person needs.

#1) Revocable Trust; its primary purpose is to avoid the probate court system.

#2) Last Will & Testament goes through probate court for assets that are in your own individual name ONLY.

#3) Power of Attorney authorizes your "Attorney-in-Fact" to handle your financial affairs if you are sick or hurt or incompacitated. The power granted to your "Attorney-in-Fact" under your Power of Attorney ends and stops WHEN YOU DIE.

#4) Heathcare Surrogate; makes medical decisions on your behalf if you can't give informed consent.

#5) Living Will; is the pull the plug document if there is no medical probability of recovery from some condition.

SD what you do on these threads is evil non-sense. You hi-jack another person's thread with your non-sense comments and your standard answer is someone in the "military" told you something.

You need to stay out of someone else's thread. Your issues have all been asked and answered ad nausem and your absurd insane purpose is to challange actual professionals in the insurance business because YOU THINK we're giving incorrect information.

Now you don't know what you are talking about and/or you are confused with the facts.

You hide behind Internet anonyomity and you have been discredited and proven wrong many times on this message board.

ALL THAT BEING SAID....I love your posts because they are typical of insurance rhetorical MISINFORMATION that under educated people "think" in their brain.

So keep posting.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 01:33 pm Post Subject: insurance

I gave information, on this thread, where you can get the information on a Military Life Insurance policy and how to CORRECTLY fill one out.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 02:26 pm Post Subject:

OK..I'll explain it AGAIN. My son is a Minor. I DO have a 'Primary Beneficary'. BECAUSE my son is a Minor, I CANNOT put him as 'Primary Beneficiary'. Remember..this is a MILITARY Life insurance policy I deal with. My POA ( who is my best friend) is my 'Primary Beneficiary'. We update our Life Insurance policies every 6 months ( if we need to). We actually have Insurance experts, for the Miltary, look over our Life insurance (who is Primary, Secondary, etc.) to see if we need to make any changes, if their written correctly, etc.



You are going to have to explain once again becuase this still isn't clear. We understand that your best friend is your POA. What we don't understand is whether the primary beneficiary is "Your Friends's Name" or "Power of Attorney". What SPECIFICALLY is the wording of your primary beneficiary?

I'm willing to bet that the beneficiary form says "Your Friend's Name". "Power of Attorney" is not a legitimate beneficiary designation.

If it says "Power of Attorney" and your insurance experts don't tell you that this isn't legitimate, they aren't experts.

If it says, "Your Friend's Name", they will tell you that it is fine. The reason that it's fine is that it's a perfectly acceptable beneficary designation. Therefore, you think that it's not an issue.

The problem isn't whether it's an acceptable beneficiary. It is. The problem is that it doesn't accomplish what you would like. Do you want all of the money to go to your friend and for her to legally be allowed to do anything that she would like with the money that gets paid?

Do you want all or some of the money to legally have to be used for your son's benefit? If that's the case, you are failing at accomplishing what you want to accomplish.

This is your kid and your blind trust in this situation can screw your kid.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 02:33 pm Post Subject:

The thing SD that I would worry about more than anything is if your friend would die....I understand you have 100% full faith in trust in her...good, I hope you're right....let's assume you are and she will do exactly what you want her to do with that money where your son is concerned....the thing that worries me...should she die before your son get's all the money, (maybe she's supposed to give him the balance after a certain age, whatever, friendly agreement you have)...if she dies before then...there is nothing your boy can do, but cry, BECAUSE all of your money will go to her estate, which is not your son...that's all I'm sayin'...and your dear friend, won't have any say in it, cause she's dead...you need to do whatever you need to do to protect your boy.....

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 04:49 pm Post Subject: insurance

You are going to have to explain once again becuase this still isn't clear.

If you don't 'get it' by now, you never will. I've ALREADY explained this SEVERAL times.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 04:53 pm Post Subject: insurance

..............AGAIN ( listen up this time!!),.......my POA IS my Beneficiary, along with my son. on my Will, she is stated as POA. On my Life Insurance, her NAME is there. The Military has guidelines for Life Insurance policies ( I think I was clear when I posted this, as well). OBVIOUSLY..........SOME people have trouble accepting their guidelines. However...........that's how it is.

Add your comment

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.