Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit: It’s more difficult to contest a life insurance beneficiary than a will.
Because life insurance doesn’t go through probate.
However, if you can show that the deceased neglected to update the policy after a major life change
Such as remarriage or adoption.
Or that the deceased had been subjected to undue pressure during a final illness.
A probate court may order that the insurance be paid to another beneficiary.
https://www.truebluelifeinsurance.com Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit
1. Documents you need to claim a death benefit
There are three documents you’ll need to have in order to claim a policy’s death benefit.
Death certificate
The insurer will need a certified copy of the policyholder’s death certificate.
This proof of death ensures that policies are being claimed legitimately and helps prevent fraud.
Policy document
The policy document has all of the pertinent information about the life insurance policy: the term, the death benefit amount, policyholder details, and so on.
The insurer will cross-reference this with their records to make sure you’re making a claim on the correct policy.
Claim form
Also known as a “request for benefits,” you’ll use a claim form to fill out information regarding the policyholder, including things like the policy number and cause of death.
You’ll also fill out information about yourself as the named beneficiary.
Including your relationship to the policy owner a nd how you would like to be paid once the carrier finishes processing your claim.
This form will be sent, along with the death certificate and policy document, back to the insurer, and they’ll take it from there.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
2. Receiving the death benefit
Depending on the insurer and the plan.
There are a few different ways you can choose to receive the death benefit.
The two simplest and most popular are lump sums or annuities.
Lump sum
With a lump sum payment, you’ll get the entire death benefit at once.
The benefit of this is that you won’t have to worry about finding other ways to pay for the funeral, a mortgage, and so on.
Not only will you receive the full death benefit; you also won’t have to pay taxes on it.
You should be able to choose how it’s delivered to you when you fill out the claim form.
Direct deposit into your bank account may be an option, or you may be able to receive a check.
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Annuity
The designated beneficiary may be allowed to convert the death benefit into an annuity instead of receiving it as a lump sum.
An annuity is a financial instrument where your initial payment – the death benefit – is invested.
Then paid back to you as an annual payment for a predetermined number of years.
Beginning from an annuitization date in the future.
The combined annuity payments could be considerably higher than your initial investment.
But if you die before receiving all the payments then you may collect less than if you’d just taken the lump sum.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
3. Consider contacting an attorney.
If you cannot afford a full-service attorney, some attorneys provide “unbundled services”. Unbundled services include:
- Preparing documents
- Giving you legal advice only
- Teaching you the law as it applies to your case
- Coaching you through the legal process
Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
4. Recognize the time sensitivity of the action.
Ideally, you will want to challenge the beneficiary designation prior to the insurance company paying out the claim.
The insurance company cannot decide who to pay the claim to.
But if there is a formal dispute as to the beneficiary.
They will pay the policy out to a trust held by the courts until the dispute is settled.
It will likely be much more difficult to collect insurance proceeds from an improperly named beneficiary who has already been paid.
- If the insurance company pays to the named beneficiary, you will need to file suit against that individual.
- If the individual has already spent the proceeds of the policy, you may have difficulty collecting.
- If the individual has no assets, you may not be able to collect at all.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
5. Check your state laws.
Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
6. Look for court orders.
These commonly include:
- Child support payments are guaranteed by a life insurance policy naming either the person with custody or a trust for the child as the beneficiary.
- Spousal support payments are guaranteed by a life insurance policy naming the former spouse as the beneficiary.
- Installment payments involving assets awarded in property settlements may be guaranteed by a life insurance policy payable to the spouse who was awarded the clear asset.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
7. Look for ambiguities.
Insurance companies are required to pay to named beneficiaries.
But if that beneficiary is not clear, they cannot pay until they learn who is meant by that designation.
Some examples are:
- Beneficiary is designated as “spouse”, but deceased is no longer married.
- Beneficiary is designated as “child”, but there is now more than one child.
- Beneficiary is designated by name to former spouse, but state law requires designation of current spouse.
Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
8. Look for evidence of fraud or undue influence.
In some cases, courts will set aside beneficiary designations.
If they were made by virtue of fraud, undue influence, or mental incompetency.
These are difficult, but not impossible, to prove.
- Fraud can be when a person is told they are signing something other than what they are actually signing or when a person relies on untrue information to persuade them to sign the beneficiary designation.
- Undue influence is when someone induces the insured to sign the beneficiary designation under excessive threats, flatter or other coercive behaviors. If a beneficiary is acting as a caregiver, power-of-attorney, or other position of trust, undue influence is presumed, but can be rebutted.
- Mental incompetence is usually defined as the inability to reasonably understand the nature of the document being signed. This definition will vary between states. A person with dementia or other illnesses may be presumed as incompetent, but it is deemed as of the time the document was signed.
Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
9. Contact the clerk of courts.
To obtain court documents, such as child support orders with life insurance provisions.
Contact the clerk of the court that issued the order.
Be prepared to provide the following information and pay a fee for certified copies:
- The full names of the parties to the case, such as the parents of the child.
- The estimated date of the order.
- The case number, names of attorneys, names of judges or other identifying information if the names are common in that area.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
10. Contact the Department of Vital Statistics.
If you need birth certificates or marriage licenses.
Contact the Department of Vital Statistics or similar agency in the state where the event occurred.
You may need to provide proof of a legal right to obtain the document and pay a fee. This proof may include:
- Copy of drivers license.
- Copy of passport.
- Copy of court order allowing you to obtain access to the document.
Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
11. Talk to potential witnesses.
Especially for claims of fraud, mental incompetence, or undue influence, witnesses will be necessary.
You will need to be able to prove specific instances of conduct showing these behaviors.
When talking with potential witnesses:
- Ask them to be specific in particular instances where certain behaviors occurred (such as approximately how many times Aunt Sally forgot where she lived or how the current beneficiary refused to allow Aunt Sally to spend time with her previously beloved niece or nephew).
- Ask them to write a statement of things they observed about the situation.
- Prepare them to potentially testify on your behalf.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
12. Notify the life insurance company.
The insurance company will file what is called an interpleader action with the courts. With this filing:
- The insurance company will deposit the proceeds of the policy with the court.
- The insurance company will name and serve all parties believed to claim some legal right to the proceeds.
- The insurance company will then withdraw from the case, letting the court decide who gets the proceeds.
Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
13. Respond to the interpleader action.
When you receive notice of the interpleader action.
You must take certain actions within a specified period of time.
Consider hiring an attorney for these and further legal actions.
- You must file your answer with the court and serve it on the other claimants within the period of time specified on the summons or citation you received, usually 21 to 45 days or receiving the petition and summons or citation.
- Your answer must state the all of the reasons you believe you are entitled to the proceeds.
- Your answer must be signed by you or your attorney.
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
14. Consider settling.
Most courts will require at least one attempt at mediation or settlement conference.
Because the cost of litigating these actions is so high, some cases settle prior to going to trial.
Consider whether it is cost-effective to pursue through trial based on the amount of the insurance proceeds.
If it is a small policy, the cost of pursuing the case to trial could be more than you stand to gain from the insurance policy.
- Mediation is when a neutral third party attempts to help the claimants compromise into a settlement.
- Settlement conference is when the claimants and their attorneys attempt to compromise into a settlement without the assistance of the neutral third party.
15. Can I get a copy of my deceased’s life insurance policy?
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Deceased’s Life Insurance Benefit:
16. What happens if all the beneficiaries are dead?
If there isn’t a named beneficiary who can claim the life insurance proceeds.
The death benefit may go into a trust that is used to pay off any debts owed by the decedent’s estate.
Conclusion:
- Be prepared for a lengthy, expensive legal battle. A life insurance policy is a signed contract, and proving that a situation such as coercion took place is difficult. While the case is open, the deceased’s estate can’t be settled, which means that legal fees, taxes and other expenses continue to accrue.