by Guest » Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:02 pm
When a life insurance policy gets turned over to the state what happens?
Do you go in front of a judge, judge and jury, or arbitrator? How does this person make a decision? what kind of questions do they ask?
How do they pick the venue? Can you request a change of venue if you feel the court may not be impartial?
Basically what should you expect?
Do you go in front of a judge, judge and jury, or arbitrator? How does this person make a decision? what kind of questions do they ask?
How do they pick the venue? Can you request a change of venue if you feel the court may not be impartial?
Basically what should you expect?
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 10:47 am Post Subject: Life Insurance
Ok...here's the 'senario'. My POA is a Beneficiary on my Will ( Military Will). However......my mom/dad and son are on my Life Insurance. Mom/dad gets half and Son gets half. If something happens to my parents, BEFORE the Life Insurance is disturbursed, and my son is under age ( 18), then isn't up to my POA (On Will not Life Insurance) to do what she needs to do? OR.......should I add my POA onto the Life Insurance?
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:01 pm Post Subject:
You are really asking a legal question here and so far I havent't seen any known attorneys posting.
As I understand, a Power of Attorney (POA) allows someone to make certain business transactions on your behalf while you are not available or unable to to so.
It has been my personal experience that POA's have their limitations, whether it is a "limited" POA or "unlimited" POA. My daugher could not conduct the final closing on a new home purchase even though she had a POA and her husband was on deployment in Iraq.
Most often, other legal documents have no control over the beneficiary designation in a life insurance contract.
Something you might consider is to make your parents guardian of a minor child in your Will. That way if something should happen to you while your kid(s) are underage, the courts would more than likely go along with your wishes.
Also, on your life insurance beneficiary designation form, there are probably two sections to make designations - (1) Primary beneficiary and (2) Contingent beneficiary. If you truly want the life insurance proceeds slit 50/50, the designation should be made something like this:
Primary Beneficiary: Mom & Dad - 50%
Son - 50%
If you made it this way:
Primary Beneficiary: Mom & Dad
Contingent Beneficary: Son
The "Mom & Dad" would have to be deceased for the "Son" to receive insurance benefits at your death.
Just don't get "Wills", "POAs" and "life insurance" mixed up.
Maze
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 01:02 pm Post Subject:
great info Maze...The way it is set up in our family (re: grandbabies)...Is I and/or grandpa are full beneficiarys and the children are contingent...that's not actually true...I can't remember the wording the kids are the primary however Poppy and I are the executors or financial guardians,(maybe?)...at any rate, should their parents expire prior to any of the kids turning 25yrs old, Poppy and I have the ''say so'' in all monetary matters...the money is to go to the children from their parents however they would not have full control over it until they reached 25 years old....hope that helps...
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 07:11 pm Post Subject:
sdchargersfan wrote:
Ok...here's the 'senario'. My POA is a Beneficiary on my Will ( Military Will). However......my mom/dad and son are on my Life Insurance. Mom/dad gets half and Son gets half. If something happens to my parents, BEFORE the Life Insurance is disturbursed, and my son is under age ( 1, then isn't up to my POA (On Will not Life Insurance) to do what she needs to do? OR.......should I add my POA onto the Life Insurance?
sd'fan I'm going to take each issue you raised one at at time:
"Ok...here's the 'senario'. My POA is a Beneficiary on my Will"
Your Will ONLY controls property that you own in your own individual name. The POA dies with you. An agent or attorney-in-fact under a Power-of-Attorney DOES NOT have control of assets after you are dead.
"However......my mom/dad and son are on my Life Insurance. Mom/dad gets half and Son gets half."
Who ever is named as the Primary Beneficiary gets the money. If they die BEFORE you and then you die, then the contingent beneficiary gets the money. You could have mulitple primary and/or contingent beneficiaries.
"If something happens to my parents, BEFORE the Life Insurance is disturbursed, and my son is under age 1, then isn't up to my POA (On Will not Life Insurance) to do what she needs to do?"
No. Your POA has absolutely nothing to do with the disbursment of your life insurance proceeds. The life insurance will be paid directly to the named primary beneficiary of the life insurance policy OR in the case of a minor child to the Court Appointed Guardian of the minor child for the benefit of minor child.
"OR.......should I add my POA onto the Life Insurance?"
You can name who ever you want as the beneficiary on your life insurance policy. However, please understand that when you do, the money is their's and their's alone to do what they want and spend as they please.
I don't know what you mean by "Military Will" a person's Last Will and Testament is their Last Will and Testament. There isn't any special Last Will and Testament just because one is in the military.
EXCEPT:
Law Dictionary: Military Will
A relaxation of formal requirements for wills for members of the armed services while in actual military service. Page, Wills §1.3, 6; §20.26, 321-24 (2d ed. 2000). The will may be oral or written, Page, Wills §1.3, 6 (2d ed. 2000), sometimes without witnesses, Page, Wills §20.25, 318, 320 (2d ed. 2000) and can be made by minors. Atkinson, Handbook of the Law of Wills ch. 9, 371-72 (2d ed. 1953). The will is not contingent on the physical condition of the testator/testatrix at the time the will is made. Page, Wills §20.25, 320 (2d ed. 2000).
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 08:07 pm Post Subject:
I hope at least, if nothing else, we have caused everyone to realize just how important beneficiary designations are in a life insurance contract.
What a person actually "meant" to happen at their death just may not happen if that person was not very specific in making the proper beneficiary designations.
We can name whoever we want, but who ever we really want better be named and in the right order.
"[T]he party designated as the principal beneficiary prevails, regardless of any contrary state court decrees. ... [The husband] was free at any time to change his designated beneficiary. He chose not to, and there is no indication ... that he intended to, so his designation of [the wife] as the policy's principal beneficiary is controlling."
I wish this was a federally mandated law.
If a man and wife had a child that was mentally or physically challenged and they later became divorced, but the man wanted his wife or ex-wife, whichever the case might be, to receive the proceeds of his group life insurane to take care of the challenged child, why should anyone be able to question that? For a group plan to just say, well "no", he's divorced now so the ex-wife has no interest here is just plain stupid.
If we ever get to the point where life insurance "beneficiaries" are successfully challenged and overturned in court, the entire insurance industry will go down the drain.
After all, up to now, life insurance is just about the only thing that we can leave to whoever we want to leave it to and feel comfortable that our wishes will be carried out at our death.
There are just too many greedy people who come out of the woodwork when death occurs.
Maze
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 08:52 am Post Subject: See if it could be helped!
Hi all,
It feels good to present another one in this regard from someone called AimB>
My husband had life insurance through his employer - both an employer paid policy as well as suplemental employee paid. When he origianally started working there in 2000 he designated his ex-wife as beneficiary (they were still legally married at the time) In 2003, we were married and he filled out a new form listing me as his beneficiary. (which we foolishly didn't make a copy of!)
My husband died this past February.
Now that it is time to collect the life insurance they are telling me that the replacement form name me isn't in their records! So the whole lot is being left to his ex-wife.
Can I contest this???
See if you guys could pose as guides!
Regards,
Lakemen
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 10:54 am Post Subject:
And I'm putting on my, I don't believe this story hat.
And I'm reverting back to the very first thing I was taught when I became an insurance agent.
The first thing that should be taught to new life insurance agents is:
People change, when people die.
With that in mind...what a bogus story!
Look IF he had sent up a Beneficiary Change Form to the insurance company they would have endorsed the change, kept the original on file and sent the insured the endorsed copy for his records.
If the insured really, really, really deep down to his soul wanted the new wife to really, really, really be his new beneficiary he would have made absolutely sure that had been accomplish.
Who was pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing (did I say pushing enough times yet) for him to make this change?
Was it the new wife?
Regarding the old wife,.... tell me something new wife...is she self supportive, is she the custodian parent of small children, are there other family dynanmics we should know about?
Okay, forget about all that...let's take the story at face value.
Husband sends up bene change form, new wife is all kissy and huggy, end of story. AND THEY NEVER ONCE BOTHER TO FOLLOW UP TO SEE IF THIS VERY IMPORTANT CHANGE HAS BEEN ACCOMPISHED.
Gee whiz, what should society do with the clueless clowns that inhabit the Earth along with reasonable persons with common sense?
I know, let's hold these idiots hands and pass Missouri Statute 461.051. 1
OR
Let's revert back to the Court case cited above:
"[T]he party designated as the principal beneficiary prevails, regardless of any contrary state court decrees. ... [The husband] was free at any time to change his designated beneficiary. He chose not to, and there is no indication ... that he intended to, so his designation of [the wife] as the policy's principal beneficiary is controlling."
Maybe, just maybe, he told you and even showed you the beneficary change form to finally shut you up about this issue with no intention whatsoever of EVER naming you as his beneficairy on his life insurance.
We will never know will we because he died. Let's not substitute a financially interested person's story for the clear intent of what the insured designated in his life insurance contract.
and don't ever forget......
People Change, when People Die.
This concludes this
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:01 am Post Subject:
If the insured really, really, really deep down to his soul wanted the new wife to really, really, really be his new beneficiary he would have made absolutely sure that had been accomplish.
OR He's just your average/regular guy that thought, 'I filled out the form gave it to the lady, I'm done now'' without knowing or wondering why he didn't get a return copy....or ''new'' wife MADE him fill it out he did then pitched it out the window on the way to work!Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:05 am Post Subject: insurance
Thank you EVERYONE!! Ya'll have been VERY helpful in my 'insurance issue'. 'You have given me some GREAT ideas! I know a 'Military Will' is just a will ( lack of a better word), however.I've actually had SOME people tell me that a Military Will is not valid in the 'Civilian World.' I KNOW that information is 100% INCORRECT. Thanks, again, for everyone's advice.
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:21 am Post Subject: insurance
Gotta add something here...............my parents live in CA and I live in PA. They are both in their 70's. My POA lives in PA...who happens to be my best friend!! Can trust her with anything!! Anyway....I think it would be scary to think about 'the courts' deciding ANYTHING for my son ( providing my parents are no longer living). I REALLY want to 'protect' my son as much as I can!!
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