Daughter of a deceased benificiary.

[Argentum107]

My mother was murdered by her boyfriend. After he shot her in the chest he shot himself in the head and died at the scene. She died a few hours later in the hospital. The thing is that she was listed as a primary benificiary on his life insurance policy. Technically she did not pre-decease him. The insurance company is stonewalling me and Im not sure how to go about securing the money for my brother and I. I have not opened the estate or been deemed the administrator of her estate yet because the insurance company won't tell me whether or not it will pay out. Also I believe that I was listed as a contingent benificiary.They won't tell me anything. I found some unofficial paperwork on all this but it was dated in 2007 so Im not sure whether or not it was current. Any advice? I don't want to waste money on lawyers if there is the possibility that there is no money to be gained. All I need to know is how can I find out what the current policy says. His daughters have already filed a claim but the insurance company won't even tell them who is on the policy. Will they be forced to provide me with information if I have power of attorney over my mothers estate?

[justalayman]

. Technically she did not pre-decease him

most states have laws that determine what constitutes one being predeceased of another in situations where both deaths are close in time.

You have not only failed to provide the germane state but you took the time to remove the question from the box that you typed your post in.

I think that deserves an: oh well, I guess you should look for an attorney.

[nextwife]

Also, was there any exclusion in his life policy for death by suicide? Did his policy allow for payment in that case?

[ALawyer]

First, my condolences.

Second, your mother's estate, and perhaps you as survivor, clearly have an intentional tort / wrongful death claim against the estate of the boyfriend as a result of the murder.

One main line of inquiry should be whether the boyfriend had a sufficient amount of assets in his own name, which became his estate at his death, to make an intentional tort / wrongful death claim worthwhile and whether the face amount of the life insurance policy is sufficiently large to make going after the proceeds economically worthwhile. Another potential source of assets would be his homeowners insurance policy and any umbrella policy he had.

The insurance company is almost certainly obligated to pay the proceeds to someone if the boyfriend had an individual policy on his own life that had been in effect for at least 2 years, or if the boyfriend had group life insurance.

If your mother had life insurance her carrier should also pay her named beneficiaries -- and would probably pay double if she's bought an accidental death rider. If she had an accidental death & dismemberment [AD&D] policy it would also kick in.

Assuming the boyfriend's life insurance policy is a private policy and not contestable on the grounds of suicide or a misstatement on the application -- that likely means it would have had to be in effect for at least 2 years -- if his insurance company has any question about who should be paid, it would very likely simply deposit the proceeds in court and let the claimants fight it out.

You'll need a lawyer somewhere in the process. Your best bet would be to retain one now, to evaluate the situation and protect your claim and your rights in the proceeds and any other assets the murderer had. Step one for the lawyer to do -- unless you have already done so -- is to get an idea of how much is at stake to see what makes sense.

Also, there is often a short statute of limitations on intentional torts, so do not delay, and if the life insurance was provided under an ERISA plan, the determination by the insurance company may be much harder to challenge after the funds have been paid out under a recent US Supreme Court ruling.