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Life Insurance Disbursement

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threescompany

Junior Member
Hello, I am a Florida resident and my father recently passed away (11/05). He died suddenly without leaving an updated will, so things are getting difficult (his widow/not my mother is not volunteering anything). He and my mother divorced in 1995 and composed a detailed divorce decree to specify how the children would be taken care of. I have 1 sibling under the age of 18 (15 yrs old) who was still receiving child support up until the time of his death. Getting to the point: The divorce decree stated that he was required to carry $190,000 life insurance policy to be distributed to his children in the event of his death and he was also required to carry a $25,000 decreasing term life insurance policy to be paid to my mother (his ex-wife) in the event of his death (According to the divorce decree, my mother/his ex-wife should have been named the beneficiary on the policies) . He was obligated to carry these policies until his youngest child reached the age of 19. Evidently the insurance policies werent kept up to date and he did not comply with the divorce decree. The divorce decree states that these requirements can be and ARE bound to his estate. Also, in the divorce decree he agreed to pay for my college education, which he ultimately refused to do. I financed my schooling on my own and graduated in 4 years, but I feel that I am entitled to reimbursement. So, with that said, here are my questions.

1.) I am fairly sure that his widow has attempted to or already received life insurance money on policies that he carried through work and possibly other policies. How does this affect things?
2.) We are meeting with a lawyer in a month and a half (took forever to get an appt) to go over options. I already spoke to another lawyer and he advised to file lawsuits against the life insurance company, his widow, and the estate, is this accurate?
3.) His widow was no doubtedly listed as the beneficiary on his policies, how does this affect the situation?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

- thank you
 
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BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
threescompany said:
Hello, I am a Florida resident and my father recently passed away (11/05). He died suddenly without leaving an updated will, so things are getting difficult (his widow/not my mother is not volunteering anything). He and my mother divorced in 1995 and composed a detailed divorce decree to specify how the children would be taken care of. I have 1 sibling under the age of 18 (15 yrs old) who was still receiving child support up until the time of his death. Getting to the point: The divorce decree stated that he was required to carry $190,000 life insurance policy to be distributed to his children in the event of his death and he was also required to carry a $25,000 decreasing term life insurance policy to be paid to my mother (his ex-wife) in the event of his death. He was obligated to carry these policies until his youngest child reached the age of 19. Evidently the insurance policies werent kept up to date and he did not comply with the divorce decree. The divorce decree states that these requirements can be and ARE bound to his estate. Also, in the divorce decree he agreed to pay for my college education, which he ultimately refused to do. I financed my schooling on my own and graduated in 4 years, but I feel that I am entitled to reimbursement. So, with that said, here are my questions.
O.K.
1.) I am fairly sure that his widow has attempted to or already received life insurance money on policies that he carried through work and possibly other policies. How does this affect things?
Depends on if she was named as beneficiary or not. Regardless, each member of the family needs to file a claim on the estate.
2.) We are meeting with a lawyer in a month and a half (took forever to get an appt) to go over options. I already spoke to another lawyer and he advised to file lawsuits against the life insurance company, his widow, and the estate, is this accurate?
Yes. And if you know the insurance carrier you can also file a claim on the policy and send them a copy of the divorce decree.
3.) His widow was no doubtedly listed as the beneficiary on his policies, how does this affect the situation?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

- thank you
[/quote]
see above.
 

threescompany

Junior Member
BelizeBreeze said:
FURTHERMORE:

Child support owed can also be filed as a claim against the estate. DO SO.

Thanks for the response. If his widow has already filed a claim and received the money I need to name her and his estate in a lawsuit, correct?
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
threescompany said:
Thanks for the response. If his widow has already filed a claim and received the money I need to name her and his estate in a lawsuit, correct?
as you were instructed to do yes.

As a senior member of this forum oft-times says, File suit against all parties and let the court sort it out.
 

threescompany

Junior Member
BelizeBreeze said:
as you were instructed to do yes.

As a senior member of this forum oft-times says, File suit against all parties and let the court sort it out.

I appreciate the help, thank you.
 

threescompany

Junior Member
BelizeBreeze said:
as you were instructed to do yes.

As a senior member of this forum oft-times says, File suit against all parties and let the court sort it out.
My mother was informed by an attorney that we can't touch the life insurance money that was dispursed to his wife and that we can only possibly collect compensation from mutual funds or other real estate and things like that. Is it still worth it to pursue a lawsuit? and what else can we pursue as part of the estate (Florida law)?

Thanks
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
Your attorney will first need to get some idea of the total value of this man's estate, NOT including the life insurance, which is NOT part of the estate.

Problem is, the divorce decree doesn't state a penalty if he didn't keep the life insurance current, does it? So if there is more than $190,000 in the estate, you might get part of it back if the attorney files a claim. The reimbursement for the college expenses is worth filing a claim for but I doubt you'll get that--you should have asked for that money from him while he was still alive and during the time of your first year of college.

Won't do any good to file a lawsuit against the insurance company since they are obligated to pay the designated beneficiary and you would lose, but your attorney does need to look at any beneficiary designation form he filled out to find out when and how the beneficiary was changed and what state law says about this and whether he is allowed to make such a change--some states give preference to the current spouse, other states give preference to the previous spouse.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

threescompany

Junior Member
Dandy Don said:
Your attorney will first need to get some idea of the total value of this man's estate, NOT including the life insurance, which is NOT part of the estate.

Problem is, the divorce decree doesn't state a penalty if he didn't keep the life insurance current, does it? So if there is more than $190,000 in the estate, you might get part of it back if the attorney files a claim. The reimbursement for the college expenses is worth filing a claim for but I doubt you'll get that--you should have asked for that money from him while he was still alive and during the time of your first year of college.

Won't do any good to file a lawsuit against the insurance company since they are obligated to pay the designated beneficiary and you would lose, but your attorney does need to look at any beneficiary designation form he filled out to find out when and how the beneficiary was changed and what state law says about this and whether he is allowed to make such a change--some states give preference to the current spouse, other states give preference to the previous spouse.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

- The divorce decree says that He MUST keep the life insurance policies with my mother as the beneficiary (which he didn't do) or it will the amount will be bound to his estate in the event of death. I pretty much knew the college expenses were a wash, but it was worth a try. When I was in school, he stone walled and wouldn't help me out...I get mad thinking about it, but thats life.

- We live in Florida and are looking into his estate worth right now. The attorney we spoke to said that her house is untouchable and the life insurance money is untouchable because his widow was the beneficiary. Apparently, she recently cleaned out a mutual fund account (that was in his name) so I am talking to a private investigator to try to find out how much money was in it. If she already cleaned that mutual fund account out how do I go about retrieving the money? Do I file a lawsuit against his estate and his wife?
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Before hiring the private investigator, wait and find out who the executor of the estate is so that the executor can find out this information for you. If he named her as beneficiary the mutual fund money won't go into the estate. If he named no beneficiary then it should have gone into the estate, but it looks like he did name her beneficiary--otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get the money.
 

threescompany

Junior Member
Dandy Don said:
Before hiring the private investigator, wait and find out who the executor of the estate is so that the executor can find out this information for you. If he named her as beneficiary the mutual fund money won't go into the estate. If he named no beneficiary then it should have gone into the estate, but it looks like he did name her beneficiary--otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get the money.

How do I find out who is the executor of the estate (he had no will) ?
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
Check at the county courthouse probate court for whatever city your father died in--if you don't know how to find it, any local librarian or city/county government office can help you find it. Normally the will or an intestate administration of the estate without a will is filed within 30 days after death, IF we assume that the widow wanted an estate filing done. If nothing has been filed, you can hire a probate attorney to do so if you want to but you should not do so unless you have knowledge of assets that haven't been probated.

Do you know where the previous will is that was not updated?
 

threescompany

Junior Member
Dandy Don said:
Check at the county courthouse probate court for whatever city your father died in--if you don't know how to find it, any local librarian or city/county government office can help you find it. Normally the will or an intestate administration of the estate without a will is filed within 30 days after death, IF we assume that the widow wanted an estate filing done. If nothing has been filed, you can hire a probate attorney to do so if you want to but you should not do so unless you have knowledge of assets that haven't been probated.

Do you know where the previous will is that was not updated?

There is an OLD will from about 20 years ago (when my parents where still married). That left everything to my mother (his ex-wife) and myself. How can I find out what assets havent or have been probated? at this point I was going to hire a P.I. to look into a mutual fund my father had, but his wife has subsequently cashed out. I was told buy an attorney that the mutual fund is actually part of his estate.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
threescompany said:
There is an OLD will from about 20 years ago (when my parents where still married). That left everything to my mother (his ex-wife) and myself. How can I find out what assets havent or have been probated? at this point I was going to hire a P.I. to look into a mutual fund my father had, but his wife has subsequently cashed out. I was told buy an attorney that the mutual fund is actually part of his estate.
The age of the will does not matter. Only if a new will has been executed would the old will be invalid.

You need to visit the probate court and find out if probate has been filed. If not, file immediately with the existing will.
 

threescompany

Junior Member
BelizeBreeze said:
The age of the will does not matter. Only if a new will has been executed would the old will be invalid.

You need to visit the probate court and find out if probate has been filed. If not, file immediately with the existing will.

I checked the database records online and probate has not been filed as of yet. I spoke with someone in probabt court and she said for an executor to be appointed all heirs had to agree, including his widow. This probably won't happen though...Do you suggest going the private investigator route to possibly save money in case there isn't any estate assets to possibly divide through probate proceedings?

Thanks
 

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