can spouse touch life ins left to children?

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 04:45 am Post Subject:

I think in case of naming the minors as beneficiary one needs to appoint a guardian/trust for them, who would be responsible for the apportionment of the benefits in case the policy holder dies before the child reaches adulthood.

Who is the named guardian in your policy?

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 09:07 am Post Subject: insurance

I was in the same situation, at one time. I was seperated from my (now) EX husband. ..however, yep, still married. In my Life Insurance, I had my child ( who is a minor) in my policy. I also had a very dear friend as a Beneficiary.......NOT my EX. My friend was ALSO the 'Guardian' on the policy. Anyway...............when we seperated, I had taken my EX off the Life Insurance all together. In the state I live in ( which is PA), you don't have to have your spouse on your policy.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 10:16 am Post Subject:

Pickles, what is it that you would like to have happen? If you do nothing, most likely it will be your ex who will be managing the money.

SDChargers Fan, we've spoken about this in the past, but if I recall correctly, your son is the contingent beneficiary which means that he gets absolutely nothing.

What does it mean to be a "guardian of the policy"?

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 02:05 pm Post Subject:

IE...I would like to see the money used properly to insure a roof over my children's head and for expenses they may need for college.

Obviously 100 k(50k) each is barely enough for more than a year of college each, but hopefully since they are both smart and good students, they will be able to fund most of their college through scholarships, loans and financial aid.

My biggest fear is for them to not be able to make the choices they want or need to make because their father makes his usual bad financial decisions and they end up having to work 24/7 just to feed themselves and keep a roof over their head.

So, I would like for someone to administer it in such a way that they do not have to worry about incidentals and living expenses until they are either graduated from college and can start a career or until they have learned some kind of revenue generating trade.

I am thinking that naming them as primary beneficiaries and then naming my best friend as secondary or guardian might be the way to go. I hope desperately though that he is not able to sue my estate for the spousal 30% that Florida. I just don't know if life insurance falls under that law or not.

Thanks for all the input...

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 03:06 pm Post Subject:

I have two children...13 and 17 that I have as the beneficiaries. Is he entitled to the management of those benefits if I die and the children are still minors?

Is he entitled to the Florida spousal 30% of the benefits since we are still legally married?

222.13 Life insurance policies; disposition of proceeds.

(1) Whenever any person residing in the state shall die leaving insurance on his or her life, the said insurance shall inure exclusively to the benefit of the person for whose use and benefit such insurance is designated in the policy, and the proceeds thereof shall be exempt from the claims of creditors of the insured unless the insurance policy or a valid assignment thereof provides otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever the insurance, by designation or otherwise, is payable to the insured or to the insured's estate or to his or her executors, administrators, or assigns, the insurance proceeds shall become a part of the insured's estate for all purposes and shall be administered by the personal representative of the estate of the insured in accordance with the probate laws of the state in like manner as other assets of the insured's estate.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 10:58 pm Post Subject:

Thank you Gary! Great info!

So what I need to do to keep him from touching the money if they are minors is to do a pre need guardianship of the money?

I have just purchased a NOLO estate and will book. Perhaps that form is in there.

Thanks so much!

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:23 pm Post Subject:

So what I need to do to keep him from touching the money if they are minors is to do a pre need guardianship of the money?

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:36 pm Post Subject:

Shameless self promotion is never a bad thing Gary! I do it myself....LOL

Thanks again!

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:40 pm Post Subject:

Ah...I just found the will form that has a trust and guardian of property in it. In reading it,,,it seems like just the ticket!

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:37 am Post Subject:

You really want to run this by an attorney. However, what is typically done in this type of situation is that you would change your primary beneficiary to read something along the lines of "trustee under the will of the insured" and then the will will control what happens to the money.