Wrong Beneficiary on Life Insurance Policies - Beneficiaries Updated Years Ago

[clausont]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
How do we go about correcting life insurance beneficiaries after the policy owner has died. The beneficiaries are supposed to be the adult children of the policy owner according to the policy owner. There were separate policies on the policy owner and ex-husband, owned by the recently deceased policy owner.
The insurance company (Prudential) still shows the ex-husband as the beneficiary. They were divorced in 1966 and have had virtually no contact since then. We do not know where the original divorce decree is but the policy owner remarried in 1989. The supposed beneficiary has remarried 7 times. The policy owner has died and now the insurance company is stating that they are giving both policies to the ex-husband rather than to the beneficiaries that the owner wanted them to go to.
The policy owner would be extremely distraught over this if she were still alive.

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
How do we go about correcting life insurance beneficiaries after the policy owner has died. The beneficiaries are supposed to be the adult children of the policy owner according to the policy owner. There were separate policies on the policy owner and ex-husband, owned by the recently deceased policy owner.
The insurance company (Prudential) still shows the ex-husband as the beneficiary. They were divorced in 1966 and have had virtually no contact since then. We do not know where the original divorce decree is but the policy owner remarried in 1989. The supposed beneficiary has remarried 7 times. The policy owner has died and now the insurance company is stating that they are giving both policies to the ex-husband rather than to the beneficiaries that the owner wanted them to go to.
The policy owner would be extremely distraught over this if she were still alive.

I'm afraid that unless you have proof that the beneficiary for the policy was not changed after a proper change form was submitted by request of the policyholder or their legal representative, then there is probably not a lot that can be done to change it now. The time to change the beneficiary would have had to be BEFORE the policyholder died, not after.

What proof do you have of who the INTENDED beneficiary was supposed to be, and why was the policy not changed sooner?

 

[clausont]

What proof do you have of who the INTENDED beneficiary was supposed to be, and why was the policy not changed sooner?

Good question Sandyclaus. We cannot find the paper(s) showing the change done more than 30 years ago, so possibly we may just not be able to do anything. Perhaps phrasing the question about "changing the beneficiary" is incorrect. Perhaps "contesting" would have been the proper term. Really, all we know is that our mother (the policy owner) has told us that she had the kids listed as the beneficiaries, but the insurance company shows her first husband as beneficiary on both policies. As stated, she had divorced him more than 46 years ago. I realize that in itself really does not mean anything though.
Thanks for your reply and information. Really, it is not so much an issue of the kids getting any money from a policy as it is that her wishes are not being upheld. She would have hated the thought of him getting anything in any way.

 

[sandyclaus]

Good question Sandyclaus. We cannot find the paper(s) showing the change done more than 30 years ago, so possibly we may just not be able to do anything. Perhaps phrasing the question about "changing the beneficiary" is incorrect. Perhaps "contesting" would have been the proper term. Really, all we know is that our mother (the policy owner) has told us that she had the kids listed as the beneficiaries, but the insurance company shows her first husband as beneficiary on both policies. As stated, she had divorced him more than 46 years ago. I realize that in itself really does not mean anything though.
Thanks for your reply and information. Really, it is not so much an issue of the kids getting any money from a policy as it is that her wishes are not being upheld. She would have hated the thought of him getting anything in any way.

Well, I'd have to say that if it was such a pressing concern for her, she should have made sure that all her affairs were in order long ago.

 

[Betty]

Apparently a change of beneficiary form was never submitted to the ins. co. to change the beneficiary. As sandyclaus noted, not much (probably nothing) can be done now without proof that the bene was to be changed.

The ins. co. is following their procedure of paying to the bene listed in the policy.