smalltown2
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
My husband died this August, after 7 years of marriage to me. He had three children and two ex-wives from previous marriages. He was set up to leave his children $100K per child with life policies, but in both cases the insurance companies are coming back with denials that will need to be fought. These policies were in my name but non-taxable so I could have transferred them over without consequence. I have one child of my own in college who had no benefits.
He also left me about $200K in benefits that come from his 20+ years as a teacher in NY state. Only $50K of this could be withdrawn without tax consequences; the rest is structured to go into a retirement account although it could be cashed out in full.
His second ex wife has found an old will from 2001 that she intended to use to force me to hand over the life insurance policies. This will leaves absolutely everything to her since it was drawn up when they were married and my husband never updated it.
She has sent me a waiver and consent to probate with her father as executor. We have a shared goal of getting her father and the judge to work on the insurance companies. If successful, my husband's estate is $500,000 and his children have college money; if they do not succeed, all we have are the $200,000 in retirement benefits among us.
I have always intended to give them the life insurance policies as that was what my husband wanted. But I'm concerned that if I sign this consent, the ex-wife may be able to force me to cash out the $200 in retirement which names me as a beneficiary. My main concern here is that I am self-employed and my tax rate is very high. If I cashed out the whole thing, the amount over $50K could be taxed at 35% to 40%, which I cannot afford to pay on a distribution to my husbands' ex wives.
Essentially, I would like the ex's husband to be able to go after these insurance companies, but I don't want to void my interest in my deceased husband's estate, which is limited to his educational benefits, although I am more than willing to share whatever that turns out to be.
I do not want to fight this with my own attorney, it has only been two months since my husband died and the last thing I want the next year to be about is a protracted legal battle over his assets. I would just like your thoughts please.
My husband died this August, after 7 years of marriage to me. He had three children and two ex-wives from previous marriages. He was set up to leave his children $100K per child with life policies, but in both cases the insurance companies are coming back with denials that will need to be fought. These policies were in my name but non-taxable so I could have transferred them over without consequence. I have one child of my own in college who had no benefits.
He also left me about $200K in benefits that come from his 20+ years as a teacher in NY state. Only $50K of this could be withdrawn without tax consequences; the rest is structured to go into a retirement account although it could be cashed out in full.
His second ex wife has found an old will from 2001 that she intended to use to force me to hand over the life insurance policies. This will leaves absolutely everything to her since it was drawn up when they were married and my husband never updated it.
She has sent me a waiver and consent to probate with her father as executor. We have a shared goal of getting her father and the judge to work on the insurance companies. If successful, my husband's estate is $500,000 and his children have college money; if they do not succeed, all we have are the $200,000 in retirement benefits among us.
I have always intended to give them the life insurance policies as that was what my husband wanted. But I'm concerned that if I sign this consent, the ex-wife may be able to force me to cash out the $200 in retirement which names me as a beneficiary. My main concern here is that I am self-employed and my tax rate is very high. If I cashed out the whole thing, the amount over $50K could be taxed at 35% to 40%, which I cannot afford to pay on a distribution to my husbands' ex wives.
Essentially, I would like the ex's husband to be able to go after these insurance companies, but I don't want to void my interest in my deceased husband's estate, which is limited to his educational benefits, although I am more than willing to share whatever that turns out to be.
I do not want to fight this with my own attorney, it has only been two months since my husband died and the last thing I want the next year to be about is a protracted legal battle over his assets. I would just like your thoughts please.
