HELP!! Life insurance is being contested...

[safire0901]

My husband passed away in Jan. He had group life insurance through work and a pension plan. I recieved a letter today that its being contested by the mother of a child he had during our marriage. The letter states that there are sending it to the claims division for review and determination. Will the contestment on the life insurance effect the pension? My husband had 8 years to put the child on, he never saw the child. What can I expect the outcome to be, someone told me she may get all or half. Is that true, whats the sense of having a beneficiary when someone can just over ride your wishes when you die? My state is New Jersey

 

[Betty]

Can we have the name of your state, please. Thanks.

 

[Betty]

My husband passed away in Jan. He had group life insurance through work and a pension plan. I recieved a letter today that its being contested by the mother of a child he had during our marriage. The letter states that there are sending it to the claims division for review and determination. Will the contestment on the life insurance effect the pension? My husband had 8 years to put the child on, he never saw the child. What can I expect the outcome to be, someone told me she may get all or half. Is that true, whats the sense of having a beneficiary when someone can just over ride your wishes when you die? My state is New Jersey

Life ins. proceeds are payable to the beneficiary named in the policy - were you the named bene? (It seems you were per your post.) The ins. co. has to review any claim they receive though - it doesn't mean the person contesting will get the proceeds. The pension is separate from the life insurance which I assume was to continue on to you at your husband's death. I'm sorry your husband passed away.

 

[safire0901]

My state is New Jersey. Yes I am the bebeficiary. I have heard that she wants all or half of the benefit. If they decide she should get any about what percentage of that would they award her? She screamed at me on the phone stateing she had a court order from child support 5 years ago that he was supposed to add her, this if false. I called child support and they said there was no such order. I am also wondering if you would know the time period that this will take? I'm 9 months pregnant and this stress is taking a major toll on me. Thank you for your reply...

 

[Betty]

My state is New Jersey. Yes I am the bebeficiary. I have heard that she wants all or half of the benefit. If they decide she should get any about what percentage of that would they award her? She screamed at me on the phone stateing she had a court order from child support 5 years ago that he was supposed to add her, this if false. I called child support and they said there was no such order. I am also wondering if you would know the time period that this will take? I'm 9 months pregnant and this stress is taking a major toll on me. Thank you for your reply...

I'm sure this is a stressful time for you with your husband passing away & you being pregnant. If you were actually listed by name as bene & the only bene of the ins. proceeds, there should be a good chance you will get it all. I don't, of course, have the policy to review its provisions. Usually claims are paid fairly quickly (1-2 wks.) but it takes longer when there are multiple claims or the pol. is in the contestable period - can sometimes take 30-45 days. (hard to say) Sometimes if there are multiple beneficiaries & the ins. co. cannot determine who should get the proceeds, the ins. co. will turn the proceeds over to the court & let a court decide. Did you husband have a will or did he die intestate (w/o a will)? The child's mother may put a claim in/contest for assets/money which may be due the child from your husband's estate. Life ins. proceeds with a named bene pass outside the estate & go to the bene named by the insured.

 

[safire0901]

No, he didn't have a will. But the child of course when I filed for administrator of the Estate I also put the childs name on the paperwork too. She won't have to contest it, it is going to take time for that because of my husbands mothers estate isn't settled yet his share goes into his estate, but the child is only 8 so theres really no rush at this point. Do you know of any cases where they did decide the child does get to recieve some and how much that will be?

 

[Betty]

Hi - if you do a google search for intestate succession law for the state of NJ, the law will tell you who the proceeds go to when the deceased had no will & how much they each get. Betty

 

[safire0901]

i already looked that up and i understand the intestate, My last question was about the life insurance and what will most likely happen. If they decide she gets a part of it what precentage of the life insurance will she most likely recieve? And how long can I expect this all to take? Thank you...

 

[Dandy Don]

You as a surviving spouse are in the strongest position to get this money since you were named beneficiary. This other lady with the child has no legal claim to get this money and the insurance company has no basis for paying her. It should take less than 4 weeks for the insurance company to decide on this, whether to consider it as an interpleader action for the court to decide.

This other lady's mistake is in not knowing that she should be filing a claim against the estate for the child support, which she would get if there WAS an estate, but this is just a last ditch effort on her part to try to get something for her child, which unfortunately she won't get.

Are you saying that this life insurance money is the only asset that your husband has and that there are no other assets of his that need to be probated?

If the insurance company rules against you (which I doubt will happen) you need to get an attorney who is experienced with interpleader cases with insurance companies which is what this looks like it is, to defend your side.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[Betty]

i already looked that up and i understand the intestate, My last question was about the life insurance and what will most likely happen. If they decide she gets a part of it what precentage of the life insurance will she most likely recieve? And how long can I expect this all to take? Thank you...

As I indicated previously, life ins. passes outside the estate & would go to the named beneficiary. If that is you, then you should get full proceeds. Since there is another claim, it will take some longer than the normal 1-2 weeks of paying out a claim. Ins. cos. try to pay claims promptly after they receive notice of death & the death certificate -- but payment can be held up if multiple claims or other "problems" re who should get the proceeds. (normally 30-45 days in my experience working for an ins. co.)

 

[safire0901]

I tried to talk to the person in the claims division and she wasn't in and i asked the person who answered the phone if the pension benefit would still be coming and she said probably not because of the insurance being contested. Does that mean that she is trying to get the whole thing? From what i read on her website a child is only entitled to 20% is there is no surviving spouse. I did hire a lawyer to handle the intestate for me and he wants me to send him the letter i recieved and he said he will contact the life insurance. Will that really complicate things and make the process longer? Or can he help me get it settled faster? I'm sorry for all the questions I just really need to understand this situation it's causing me alot of stress and i'm worried about what thats doing to the baby i'm carrying. My blood pressure was too high and they kept me overnight at the hospital.
He did not owe her any child support he paid on time and she had already gone to social security to collect the benefits for her child there. Thank you for your replies.

 

[Betty]

I think your best bet at this time is to let your lawyer handle everything plus wait & see what he finds out from the ins. company. No, I don't think he is going to complicate things. Have you run all your concerns/questions by your lawyer?

 

[nextwife]

Did you also have an insurance policy against him through YOUR employer? If you were paying the premiums, that policy is not in anyway related to his assets or estate and the child's mother should be unable to touch it or any other policies you purchased to protect you or your future children.

 

[safire0901]

I didn't have a policy on him through my work. I did finally get through to the claims representative that will handle the contestment and she told me that the childs mother will need Legal Basis, which she said is a court order or a divorce decree. I talked to my husbands case worker and verified what i already knew which is they never had an order for him to put the child on his policy and they were never married so there is no order in a divorce decree. The claims rep did also tell me that she has 30 days to prove Legal Basis, and if she doesn't then I will recieve the benefits. They should tell people that are going to try to contest a beneficiary what they will need to do so, then this can all be avoided and the actual beneficiary wouldn't have to go through this stress. It was hard enough to lose my husband without this agrevation on top of it. Thank you...

 

[Betty]

They should tell people that are going to try to contest a beneficiary what they will need to do so, then this can all be avoided and the actual beneficiary wouldn't have to go through this stress. It was hard enough to lose my husband without this agrevation on top of it. Thank you...

The problem is no matter what some people are told, they are going to submit a claim & contest anyway or they don't know what is required to prove a claim until they submit the claim & are told. Hopefully (you should since you are the bene on the pol.) you will get the proceeds at the end of the 30 day period. Take care at this stressful time in your life.