by Guest » Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:24 pm
My friends husband died the end of Novemeber. She is listed as the primary benificiary for his $50,000 life insurance from work and his two grown sons as secondaries. She wondered why she wasn't recieving it after submitting all the paperwork and death certificate. Turns out when he divorced his first wife, mother of two sons, in 1994 the divorce decree stated he shall name as the sole beneficiaries on any and all life insurance policies the children of the parties to wit- one was 18 and one was 16 at time the divorce was final. So does that mean the life insurance he took out in 2010 naming her as primary is voided and what is stated in the divorce degree is still legal after 18 years. The two sons are contesting it as they have told the insurance company not to pay her. So is she screwed and the divorce document stands or does the life insurance trump the divorce degree. She has no attorney hired yet until the insurance company finalizes their decision. Any ideas on who comes out the winner?
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:18 am Post Subject: life insurance and divorce degree
Divorce settlements necessitate to continue with the life insurance payments to provide for child support.
Life insurance carriers have to respect the legal mandates.
Is there any other life insurance policy for the first wife and children?
However, this policy was taken out after the divorce with first wife. It's kind of dicey unless the exact phrasing of the decree is known. Consult an attorney for the purpose.
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 01:53 pm Post Subject: life insurance from divorce degree
There is no other life insurance policy. The boys are in their 30's now. The exact wording is "he shall name as the sole beneficiaries on any and all life insurance policies the children of the parties to wit " . She has consulted with an attorney but we are waiting for the final word from the insurance company as to if they are still going to honor her as the primary benificiary. The attorney seems to show favor to her. We just didnt know if after they reached legal age what was said in the decree would be null and void or it stays for life. These children (or any of his family) had not been in his life for 13 years and only showed up 3 weeks before he died and only because his wife called them.
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 07:32 pm Post Subject:
What has not been said is that this is an employer-sponsored life insurance policy, and the rules of ERISA probably govern the outcome, not state insurance laws. The Summary Plan Description will identify who the beneficiary was. If there was a court order and that order was served on the Plan Administrator at the time (or even now, following the death), the Plan Administrator is bound to honor the court decree.
The court order probably only addresses life insurance existing AT THE TIME of the divorce, not life insurance purchased or made available after the divorce was final. But one would have to read the divorce order to know that for certain.
It is unlikely that the court would, or could, implement an order prohibiting a divorced person from obtaining any new life insurance on his/her own life and being forced to name someone other than of his/her own choosing as the beneficiary of all such insurance. That would be contrary to public policy. The court sometimes orders the departing husband to obtain a new policy on himself naming the departing wife as beneficiary as a condition of granting the divorce -- but this still allows the former husband to purchase more insurance beyond that and to name anyone else of his choosing as beneficiary.
Not all of the details have been laid on the table.
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