A) Can the contingent beneficiary apply for the life insuran

by lewisboscolo » Fri Sep 18, 2009 07:10 am

I am the executor of an estate and the contingent beneficiary on a Life Insurance Policy for the same person. The insured is now deceased. The primary beneficiary does not want to complete the application for Life Insurance benefits.

Can the beneficiary relinquish her right to the proceeds and allow the contingent to apply? What is required to allow her to relinquish her right?

Total Comments: 13

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 12:46 pm Post Subject:

Please tell me which place you're from. Also tell me if it's a govt. life insurance policy.

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 02:24 pm Post Subject: Contingent beneficiary

Washington State and the insurance is through a private company.

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 05:39 pm Post Subject:

The beneficiary can relinquish her rights. She will have to disclaim her interest in the policy. I would suggest talking to both the specific insurance company and an attorney. She needs to do this properly so that she never has any incident of ownership.

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 07:02 pm Post Subject:

You would want to talk with a lawyer about that one. I'm sure the insurance company would require a legal document stating as much.

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 06:59 pm Post Subject:

The beneficiary can disclaim the benefit. It's important that she does this properly so that she doesn't have any incidence of ownership. Once she disclaims it, the contingent can file a claim.

Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:27 pm Post Subject: insurance

INSURANCEEXPERT......when I saw the 'Topic', and I realized that you had replied to it, I sure was curious HOW you answered it! :D Does the 'Primary' Beneficiary have to send a written document, stating he/she no longer wants to be 'responsible' for the policy?..just trying to be clear on this. Does the document have to be Notorized' or anything like that, etc? I'll give you a bit of more difficult question..LOL If the 'Primary' wants no responsiblity, would the 'Secondary' Beneficiary 'move-up' (lack of a better word here..) to a 'Primary' position? I hope the question is clear.

Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 02:57 pm Post Subject:

Yes, the primary beneficiary will have to send written documenation that they don't want the money. It depends on the specific insurance company, but I believe, that it usually needs a signature guarantee.

The money will then go to whatever person is next in line to receive it.

The primary beneficiary can't give any direction to the insurance company in terms of what to do with the money.

I recently dealt with this with an IRA. A person had their mom as beneficiary and her brother as contingent beneficiary. Her mom was 90 years old. We had her mom disclaim the money and it all went to her brother.

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:19 am Post Subject: insurance

You explained it pretty well, INSURANCEEXPERT..thanks. Another question..however. You said above you had the mother 'disclaim' the money. Was she just NOT capable of making decisions anymore.? BTW..gonna give you alittle (shrt version) background of an issue, concerning one of my 'Clients'. Please give me a bit of advice on this: My 'Client' is 88 years old. She has 3 kids. Her daughter lives two houses away (right down the road). ONE of her sons lives out of state. The OTHER son lives down the road, as well. The daughter tells everyone she is the POA for the 'Client'. However.....there is nothing documented of this. yes...this daughter loves to have 'control' of things. ONE son lives out of state....he's coming to visit soon. THIS son is the 'Executor' of the 'Clients' Will, property, etc. According to the daughter, SHE "can take everything away", etc. because she "is POA." The son, who lives down the road, just won't get involved. All of this is such a mess!! Any advice?

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 01:03 am Post Subject:

The mother was capable of making decisions. She's very sharp. She didn't need the money. Ultimately it was all going to end up in the hands of the brother, the contingent beneficiary.

If the money went to the mother, she would have had to take distributions based upon her life expectancy. All of the money would have been taken out of the IRA and taxed within about 3 years. It would then have been part of her taxable estate at death.

With the money going to her brother, it could be removed based upon his life expectancy and taxed over a 25 year period. Additionally, the death of the mother would not cause the money to be taxed.

As for your "client", I'm missing the problem. The daughter can say whatever she wants. However, without actually having a POA, she can't take legally take anything.

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 09:11 am Post Subject: insurance

Actually.........INSURANCEEXPERT...you DID answer my question. She IS telling everyone (including a 'family' Lawyer..) that she is POA and she "wants this and that", etc. It's alittle strange..because in 'my' office ( the office in which the agency is where I work), the ONLY contact phone numbers, info, etc....is the son ( who lives down the road), and his wife. When the daughter calls, she "demands" to know whats going on with this or that. My supervisor tells her that her name is "no where on paper being a POC (Point of Contact) and they can't discuss anything with her. It's the brother ( that lives down the road) who started the 'services' for her ('our' agancy cleans her house, cooks her meals, etc). It's really a 'messy' situation, all the way around.

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