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Ex-wife contesting Life Insurance Beneficiary

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YoungWidow

Junior Member
We live in Texas and my husband pasted away in January of this year. He was only 41 and had 4 kids with his ex-wife. He orginally had a life insurance policy that left his ex-wife as beneficiary and in his divorce degree it stated that the life insurance policy was to be put in a trust for the kids as long as child support was payable.

We had custody of his son over the last year and 1/2 and he went on SSD last year and the child support was specified as current and arrearage would be zero'd out in part of the custody order when SSD went into effect.

Therefore, he changed the beneficiary to me last November and his ex-wife said she would contest the life insurance and she did. She called the day after he died and filed a claim and submitted the divorce degree along with it. I also filed a claim as he made me the beneficiary as his ex-wife was sending him letters and emails asking him to let her use the money to build a house for the kids. She said she would pay the kids back for house when they grew up. However, his children are 18, 16, 15 and 12. Plus I also sent in the modified order showing that child support was zero'd out as he when on SSD.

The money in now tied up and will probably have to go to a judge to decide who get's the money.

Does she have any rights to the money, as my husband battle cancer over the last year and we still have a lot of medical bills that are still outstanding.

Is there a chance that the judge would split the money and give half to her and half to me? Also, if she does get the money, will in be placed in the trust that was specified in the divorce degree or can it be placed in a trust she open, as she did that too after he died. She opened a trust for her kids with her name on it as trustee.

Thanks for any advice. I not worried about getting the money too much as her getting the money and not the kids. If the money goes into a trust, I don't believe she should control it.
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
This type of proceeding is called an interpleader action--has the insurance company notified you about what court the upcoming proceedings are going to be held in?

Do you currently have an attorney representing you?

What is the value of the policy?

As long as you have a certified copy of the modified order that zeros out the arrearage, you should be in a very good position to get all of the money. Ex-wife has no legal grounds for a claim at all. But you need to make sure you have an attorney to represent your interests and argue the case on your behalf.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

YoungWidow

Junior Member
Thank You

The hearing will be in Dallas, they are waiting to see if she will drop her claim, which I don't think she will. The policy is not that much as it's only $150,000. Which I know is not a lot, as in SSD in 4 years she will have received over that amount. How odd is that?

As for an attorney, no I don't have one, but I just faxed a copy of my husbands will to the attorney I heard from and it has how the trust should be set up should he pass. Of course the ex-wife won't like it as it shows me as the trustee on the kids behalf and not her. So she will probably fight that too.

You have to understand this woman tried to get money out of him at a child custody case, we ended up with one of my husband children, his son and two weeks after my husband passed, she found out how much money he was going to get from SSD for just him and she didn't want me to have any of it, so she pulled him out of school and took him home with her over 150 miles away. She won't let me talk to kids, but yet they have been in my life for the past 5 years and I don't have a problem with any of them. It's like losing my husband all over again.
 

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