Life Insurance Beneficiary Question

[funnyfarm]

My experience was very similar. Had to fill out a bunch of family tree info. I was the executor, and they wouldn't tell me anything, including the amount. Once they determined who the beneficiary was based on their criteria, they sent a letter to the beneficiary making them aware and asking for further documentation. I don't know that we found out an amount until the check came.

Was your wife the executor for her brother's estate?

Ooops! There is NO executor for her brothers estate.

 

[funnyfarm]

I dealt with this issue when trying to clear the estate of my FIL. Yes, it is normal for an insurance company to request information on all possible heirs and assigns when the named beneficiary is deceased or when their is no defined beneficiary. And, yes, it is normal for the insurance company to try and keep information confidential.

My suggestion is; have a conversation with an experienced estate/probate attorney. Go in with specific questions and ask for clear direction on what to do. You likely will be able to resolve the insurance issue without hiring an attorney to do it for you, but it really helps to get professional advice from someone who deals with that every day.

And sorry, I don't know a GA estate attorney. (FIL issues were mostly from FL, and I did speak to an attorney in Fort Lauderdale, who gave me good advice that saw me through the mess.)

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Jdmb123]

josh Shirley
Shirley law firm
(678) 763-7202

 

[Spotlite]

Bumping this thread as we are going thru similar questions.

My wifes brother named their father beneficiary on a life insurance policy. I understand he did this to keep it away from his wife at the time.

After my wife recently found this a couple months ago in the back of a drawer she contacted the insurance company to let them know he (her brother) passed away a couple years ago.

Well, her dad who was named beneficiary died nearly 20 years ago! So the insurance company wanted death certificates for the both of them which she provided. Then they requested signed forms from surviving heirs of the father. That would be my wifes sister.

So, my wifes sister filled out the form and they sent it back.

So my wife gets a letter from the ins. co. stating due to the fact the beneficiary (their dad) died they now need to list ALL of their brothers wifes (3) along with ANY children (3) that he had. Addresses, ages, etc.

My wife has all the new info on the form and is ready to send it in, but does sound correct?

The ins. co. will not tell her ANYTHING about this claim including the amount of policy, copy of policy, etc. ?

Are they running her around in hopes of not paying? If they are not legally doing these request does anyone know a good estate(?) lawyer in Ga. ?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Yes. And no they won’t disclose the payout amount to anyone other than the recipient.

And, yes they’ll pay but if the beneficiary is passed on it’s “next of kin”…….as many as that might be which will start with the spouse, if no spouse it moves to his children, if they’re all gone it’ll move to his grandchildren if any. If none of those exist and his parents are gone, then his siblings are next of kin…….all of them.

My brother just passed away and one of his life policies didn’t name a beneficiary. No spouse but we had to fill those same forms out for my minor nephew as the legal heir of the policy. The other policies named our mother so those were easy.

If any minors are an heir be prepared to jump through more hoops. That can happen easily if the brother has no spouse. If he’s divorced and has minor children, then the mother of of that minor will handle the minors affairs.


My brothers x wife is dead beat bi polar dirt bag and lost custody during the divorce. My brother had full custody. She only has two supervised visitations per month.

We just got everything finalized in the court system where custody of our nephew was transferred from our brother to our mother. Now it’s at probate where everything will be finalized so our mother can handle the business affairs of social security, land, life insurance money, boat and a truck that our nephew inherited until he’s 18.

Back to the OP - if a beneficiary is named and alive they’ll receive the life insurance payout when the life insurance company receives a death certificate. All the red tape of how and who funded the policy is not relevant.


Hope this helps. I assume it’s accurate, we dealt with life insurance companies, two attorneys, a judge and now probate and this is how we landed.

 

[Spotlite]

I have been serving as the executor of my aunt's estate. She passed relatively suddenly. I had no idea about any of her finances. It's hard to track stuff down because banks don't want to disclose any info at all. Retirement accounts and insurance policies with beneficiaries named pass outside the estate. We were completely thrown for a loop though when her deceased husband was listed as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy and the insurance company decided that it wouldn't just go to the estate. Instead, the insurance company themselves have a process for determining who they thought it should go to. Lawyer said, "I've never seen this, and I don't think it's right." Only to come back and say, "Looks like they can do whatever they want." It's a difficult process and was further complicated by the fact that it was a blended family with some tension already present.

It’s not that they can do whatever they want, their process is driven by state law concerning the “legal heir” when there’s no living beneficiary.

The only way for it to go the estate is if the estate is named as the beneficiary. The problem there is it becomes subject to probate and creditor’s claims can be paid from it.

Most important thing you should do annually is review your policies and beneficiaries.

 

[Oldstick]

It’s not that they can do whatever they want, their process is driven by state law concerning the “legal heir” when there’s no living beneficiary.

The only way for it to go the estate is if the estate is named as the beneficiary. The problem there is it becomes subject to probate and creditor’s claims can be paid from it.

Most important thing you should do annually is review your policies and beneficiaries.

I believe this to be correct, along with others that replied above. Most Life insurance policies do NOT pass to the estate/will probate process before exhausting the following first: Any named beneficiaries on record with the insurance company will get paid according to that record. If no specific beneficiaries are named, there is a default payment order. Normally existing spouse #1 if living, if not then existing children of the deceased #2 if living. After that it is either the parents of the deceased, if living or the other children of #1 or #2. Something along those lines.

So as everyone mentioned above it is very important to keep beneficiary statements up to date on all insurance policies and also all bank accounts.