by uggie » Wed Aug 15, 2012 09:30 pm
will the VA recognize and pay off a life insurance policy when presented a judgment of declaration of death issued by a state district judge regarding the insured person who has been missing for 45 years and now declared legally dead by the court decree. In essence, will the VA recognize the court order in lieu of an actual death certificate?
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 05:27 am Post Subject:
A court of competent jurisdiction may declare a person dead, and the court order will be proper proof of death.
I assume the person who was missing and now declared dead served either in Vietnam or Korea. Persons who served in the Korean war were offered coverage through a program known as Servicemen's Indemnity, which was "free" and had a $10,000 death benefit. But once the war ended, the program that was made available to discharged veterans was called Veterans Special Life Insurance. It required that premiums be paid, and was term insurance convertible to whole life.
From May 1, 1965 to May 2, 1966, a special reopening of both National Service Life and Veterans Special Life was made available to certain persons with disabilities. Those policies were also limited to $10,000.
Vietnam-era members of the military were eligible for the new Servicemembers Group Life program and its $10,000 death benefit, which increased periodically over time to today's $400,000 maximum. And in 1974, the Veteran's Group Life program was started.
The problem you may encounter is being able to prove coverage was in force.
You can contact the Office of Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (OSGLI) at 1-800-419-1473. Additional contact numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses can be found here: http://www.insurance.va.gov/Sglisite/miscellaneous/contact.htm
Call them and see what they say.
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