Im a beff. for life insurnace, but no will was left

[sunvolt]

Washington state..
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP..

My mother recently died.. she didn't leave a will.. BUT,
her life insurance policy lists me and my brother as
beneficiaries.. I have a sister (I have 1 brother, 1 sister) who my mom didn't want to leave ANYTHING to.. (they had a falling out a while back).. can I use the life insurance policy to show the courts that my mother didn't want to leave anything to my sister? Would that give my brother and I leverage to show the courts that my mother only wanted her estate (a small one) to just go to us and not my sister? If it is the case, it would be GREAT vindication for my mother... I would donate that remaining 1/3 that my sister would have received to charity.. Please,
Please help...
Sunvolt ICQ#28753165
Email is
[email protected]
Thank you

 

[ALawyer]

All the beneficiary designation shows anyone is who gets the LIFE INSURANCE.

If your mother did not want the sister to get anything, she needed to have a valid Will stating that. This isn't about "VINDICATION" but fairness. The law prescribes a way to do things and the assumption is if a person has no Will, one chooses the way the state law divides things.

PS If you die without a Will and no surviving spouse or children, that sister gets part of YOUR estate too.

 

[advisor10]

THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2001

DEAR SUNVOLT:

Someone must be responsible for taking care of your mother's financial affairs (paying her outstanding debts, funeral expenses, taxes, claiming her bank accounts and pension benefits, etc.). If someone hasn't already filed at the county courthouse to be her personal representative, then you should do so.

The life insurance is not considered part of her estate, so you and your brother can spend that any way you want, and it does not have to be shared with the sister. However, according to intestate law (probate law when there is no will), then all the children will share equally in whatever assets your mother has left after all expenses have been paid. The personal representative needs to report these assets to the probate court as part of the probate process so that the monies can be distributed legally.

SINCERELY

[email protected]