Single Parent & Life Insurance

by Insurance Maze » Fri Feb 29, 2008 05:24 pm

There are many single Moms and Dads out there who oftentimes have the sole responsibility of caring for young children.
If you are a single parent and want to purchase enough life insurance to guarantee that your minor children are cared for if you should die suddenly, how would you handle the "beneficiary" designation?
What steps would you take to allow you to be comfortable in knowing that your children would benefit from the life insurance proceeds?

Total Comments: 34

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:07 pm Post Subject: life insurance

LORI and FIREYONE..............YEP.. my ex is STILL expecting money from the policy. I don't mean my SON'S bills. I mean HIS ( my ex's) bills!! Yes.........even though we have been seperated 9 years now and divorced 1 year, my ex STILL thinks I have kept him on my policy. God...what a moron!! When i seperated, I REMOVED my ex from my Military Life Insurance. God forbid..anything happens to me, my parents get half and my son gets half ( a trust fund will be set up for my son until he turns 25.0 ALL of this will be taken care of by my POA..who is NOT my ex. When I was in Iraq,my ex was just "counting on that money." Talk about morbid!!BOY...do I have stories to tell BOTH of you, but, i don't think there's enough room, on this forum, for that!!LOL To answer your question, FIREYONE...he DOES call "mommy and daddy" for money ALL the time. I may be 'financially strapped' sometimes, but, i work it out on my own. he calls Mom and Dad and they just send him what he wants. God..how pathetic. That was a REAL issue, in our marriage ( too). That's an entirely different 'can of worms'.

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:20 am Post Subject:

SD,
sound's like you have your boy taken care of thru papers with mom and dad....might not be a bad idea (did this with my daughter, neice anyone I know in similar circumstances) to draft a letter if not a formal will and have it notarized with your intentions and wishes regarding your son and any monies that would come his way in the unfortunate event of your early demise...

p.s. good riddens to bad rubbish on that husband...yikes girl! sounds like you should hit the ground and thank the Good Lord to be rid of that mess!

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 02:07 am Post Subject: insurance

Yep..it WAS a mess!! Recently ( last few days) my ex brought up the Life Insurance policy again. And, asked AGAIN who the POA was. I understand I'm worth more...(well, you know) but, I'm not even BURIED yet and my ex is ALREADY spending money that he has NO CONTROL over, in the first place!! That's just the kind of person he is. Yep..gald to 'get away' from all of that!

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 10:20 am Post Subject:

Better make sure this guy understands he ain't getting a nickel...I think it's kind of wierd that he is still talking about this....wouldn't want him bumpin' you off thinking he's gonna get all this money.... :roll: :wink: I'm only about half kiddin' I hope you've let him know he stands to get zero...

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 02:20 am Post Subject: insurance

LORI..you're "only half-kidding?" I'm not "bumpin" off for NOBODY!! LOL I just don't get him. My ex's parents have ALOT of influence ( if you want to call it that..negative, anyway) in his life. His mom thinks ALL people, on this earth ( exaggerating bit) should go by the same 'values' and 'morals' 9 what THAT happens to be) that she does. Ex's parents have never let him 'grow up'.

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 11:06 am Post Subject:

LORI..you're "only half-kidding?" I'm not "bumpin" off for NOBODY!! LOL I just don't get him.

no no no I meant him bumpin' you off....for the money he thinks he is going to get! (half kidding..) not the other way around...I just think it's really wierd that an ex would continue to talk about an ex's life proceeds... :?

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 11:44 pm Post Subject: insurance

LORI...yes, I know what ya meant.LOL I think my ex can be strange, too. Well.......I WILL say this. My ex DOES think since he is the father of my son, that he is 'entitiled' to SOMETHING!! I REALLY don't know where he's getting all of this. My ex has been 'money hungary' for such a long time.

Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 05:32 pm Post Subject: hmm

Thinking on the other side its better not to get the money at young age, they will have that when they are matured enough to know ho to use it!

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 09:19 am Post Subject: insurance

Honestly....if I received alot of money, at a young age, i would have spent ALOT of it! LOL I have ALOT of my Will, Life Insurance, etc. in place. Just getting some 'odds and ends' done on it. I know I'm repeating myself. But...make sure you deal with someone you trust ( friend, family member, etc). I can't believe some of the horror stories I have heard.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 04:30 am Post Subject: The reason for establishing Trust

The real reason for establishing a Trust is not really "not trusting people with the money", although that could be one. The reason is that if the child(ren) is a beneficiary and under age, the court will decide what to do with the money and generally would appoint a court appointed guardian/trustee to take care of the money in conjunction with the legal guardian. The court would further instruct the way the money should be invested, namely an FDIC insured account, which means very low returns, with the money to be released upon "coming of age". Money could be possibly withdrawn for education purposes or such, but the process would be complicated and would have to go through the court EACH TIME. A Trust would solve this issue AND if designed correctly with the right instructions, allow for more flexibility in how the money is to be used and yet more in line with the parent(s) wishes.

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