by Insurance Maze » Fri Feb 29, 2008 05:24 pm
There are many single Moms and Dads out there who oftentimes have the sole responsibility of caring for young children.
If you are a single parent and want to purchase enough life insurance to guarantee that your minor children are cared for if you should die suddenly, how would you handle the "beneficiary" designation?
What steps would you take to allow you to be comfortable in knowing that your children would benefit from the life insurance proceeds?
If you are a single parent and want to purchase enough life insurance to guarantee that your minor children are cared for if you should die suddenly, how would you handle the "beneficiary" designation?
What steps would you take to allow you to be comfortable in knowing that your children would benefit from the life insurance proceeds?
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 07:07 am Post Subject:
I think the policy holder needs to nominate an adult as the 'caretaker' of the minor if the 'minor' is the beneficiary of the policy. Do correct me if I'm wrong :)
Thanks all,
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 07:42 am Post Subject:
Hi InsMaze,
If you are a single parent and want to purchase enough life insurance to guarantee that your minor children are cared for if you should die suddenly, how would you handle the "beneficiary" designation?
It has always remained a very sensitive issue when the parent has to choose between the safety and the freedom of their children. In one hand they have to ensure that their child will be taken care of properly after their death and on the other they also have ensure that the little one won't be cheated of what is due to her. May you will throw some more light to this matter.
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:09 pm Post Subject:
I would think that one would find a responsible adult that they would trust to take care of the child, does the person have family members that would play this role, are their god parents in place, is there a close trusted friend. This is a valid concern for a single parent and as this population grows each day, it is something that certainly needs to be addressed while the single parent is able to make those decisions. I think other factors need to be considered to like how much insurance, what your wishes are and etc, so I would think in these cases that a will definately would be appropriate too. good post, it should bring a lot of different oppinion.
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 02:02 pm Post Subject:
There are situations where single parents, especially single Moms, are treated more or less like outcasts and really have no one that they can actually trust with the care of their children.
So, we have $100,000 in life insurance proceeds going where?
The only option in this situation might be to estabish an irrevocable trust and make the trust the beneficiary of the life insurance policy.
I would like to see some more discussion in this area.
Even if the single parent has responsible parents, we are talking about $100,000 cash. I have found that there is one thing that can actually change a person's personality and that is "money".
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 03:40 pm Post Subject:
Here's a link that explains how to set up an irrevocable trust, and the procedure for establishing a life insurance trust:
http://www.alperlaw.com/irrevocable_trusts.html
I hope that helps.
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 04:32 pm Post Subject: insurance
I'm in the military. I have a Life Insurance policy, through the military. If anything happens to me (God Forbid!!) the Beneficiary, on the policy, are my parents/older sisiter/POA. Ya see, my family lives out of state, so..there is a 'clause', stating the policy FIRST goes to my POA, who lives in this area. She will 'distribute' the money. I ALSO have a 'clause' stating a % of the money, will be put in a Trust Fund, until my son reaches the age of 25. Thsi policy lasts as long as I'm in the military. However.........I'm looking for a policy, JUST for my son...a GOOD policy....something for 'Peace Of Mind'. I want to add........whoever your POA's are, make sure they can be trusted. Remember.......your children are your life!!
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 08:29 pm Post Subject:
make sure they can be trusted. Remember.......your children are your life!!
That's the problem, who can we really trust when we have a combination of our children and lots of money?
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 03:23 am Post Subject: insurance
In this 'aspect'.....I'm very lucky and blessed. I have a DEAR friend. I've known her for 11 years. When I was 'deployed' (went overseas), she was my 'ulimited' POA.She took care of everything!!! She really is 'family' to me. My son loves her!!! I'll tell ya...and I say it again.....make sure your POA/Beneficiary is someone you trust.
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 04:06 am Post Subject:
I think it is great that you have someone that you can depend on that way, good to hear that your sons really like her too, that is very important if she is the one that will be taking care of them in the event that something goes wrong. I wish you a safe return each time you are deployed, we are in such a dangerous situation right now with our young men and women in the military, you just never know. Will you be deployed again?
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:33 pm Post Subject:
This is an excellent topic. I agree you really need a responsible adult to handle your childrens funds. I would leave a trust for my child so much when they turn 18 and then 25. I think the majority of any type of money needs to be given at a later age. If you leave then it all when they turn 18 well they just usually aren't mature enough to handle it properly. This way they have starting out money and learn how to get employment. Wouldn't most kids get social security death benefits from the deceased parent to go to the person caring for that child? When my sons father died I recieved a monthly check that helped out in the costs of raising him. A person could always transfer any extra money from that into a savings.
I have family that would take care of my daughter had something happened to my husband and I. I wouldn't want it to cause them financial hardship so I believe they should be able to use that SS benefit to raise them and leave our life insurance policy go into a savings for when the become an adult.
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