Fathers life insurance and pension

[KajunBelle]

We live in Baton Rouge, La. My husbands father passed away in 2015. He had multiple life insurance policys. He did not have a will when he passed. Should my husband have got part of the life insurance money, part of the money that was in the accounts, part of the house, etc. My husband is an only child. His mother is still alive. Were just trying to find out what he was entitled since the loss of his father. Also his mother is still getting his fathers pension. Is that normal also?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Insurance policies are separate unless the estate is the beneficiary.

Is your husband over 24 years old? And I assume your father-in-law also lived in Louisiana?

Louisiana has some unique inheritance laws. You might want to read through this. Ask any questions you may have after. Probate & Succession in Louisiana

 

[KajunBelle]

Insurance policies are separate unless the estate is the beneficiary.

Is your husband over 24 years old? And I assume your father-in-law also lived in Louisiana?

Louisiana has some unique inheritance laws. You might want to read through this. Ask any questions you may have after. Probate & Succession in Louisiana

My husband is over 24 and yes his father lived here in louisiana. With the house, his mother cant sell the house without him right? And if they sell it then some of it goes to my husband right? We just find it very hard to believe that his father did not have a will and that his father wouldnt have left him anything because his father and my husband were extremely close and knew that my husband and his mother could not stand to be around each other. Plus my husbands mother is an attorney so that's another reason we find it hard to believe his father did not have a will. She is known for forging stuff and lying alot.

 

[cbg]

As far as the life insurance policies are concerned, the only person who is entitled to the proceeds is the person or persons who were listed as the beneficiary. There is no Louisiana law that automatically grants life insurance proceeds to any particular family member. If your husband was not listed as a beneficiary, he has no legal entitlement to any part of the insurance payment.

 

[KajunBelle]

Ok can you answer any of the other questions I asked? Someone already answered that question but thank you.

 

[cbg]

No, I can't. I know about life insurance but I don't know about other inheritance laws. I'll leave that for someone else.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Separate property goes to your husband. BUT your husband's father's wife would have use of such property for her life.

Community property goes to the wife.

The link I provided explains this pretty well.

EDIT: Corrected for a second time

 

[not2cleverRed]

Separate property goes to your husband. BUT his wife would have use of such property for her life.

Community property goes to the wife.

The link I provided explains this pretty well.

I think you really need a chopped liver avatar already.

 

[Ohiogal]

Was your husband's father's wife, your husband's mother? If so...

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I think you really need a chopped liver avatar already.

No chopped liver. And I fixed my to fast typo.

If the OP would just read the link I provided it would answer the question better than any of us could in the space we have.

 

[Dandy Don]

How the house is titled depends on whether your husband would get a share of it or not.

Did your father have any other assets besides the insurance policies and the home? If so, then he should be talking to an attorney to see if he needs to get succession opened. A child is first in line to inherit but a lot depends on how the assets are titled as a spouse is entitled to a certain portion.

If your husband knows which company held the insurance policies, he should be contacting them to ask whether a beneficiary change designation was ever submitted on them or not. If the beneficiary designation changes were made by someone who got a signed power of attorney from him, that change may be illegal depending on your state law and that is something you may want to contest.

If your husband knows the company where the pension was held, he can contact the company himself to find out if his mother was designated to be the beneficiary. Certainly there is nothing wrong with a husband wanting his spouse to be taken care of.

 

[HRZ]

LA has some very usual inheritance laws....and it's possible to write a will in LA that is less favorable than a no will situation....to Mom and more favorable to,son...and I don't think a spouse has an election right against a will in LA...so if Mom disliked her son ......then you might consider the practical odds of a will getting " lost"?

 

[LdiJ]

We live in Baton Rouge, La. My husbands father passed away in 2015. He had multiple life insurance policys. He did not have a will when he passed. Should my husband have got part of the life insurance money, part of the money that was in the accounts, part of the house, etc. My husband is an only child. His mother is still alive. Were just trying to find out what he was entitled since the loss of his father. Also his mother is still getting his fathers pension. Is that normal also?

Life insurance policies go to whomever is named as the beneficiary. Most people would name their spouse as their beneficiary. Houses that are jointly owned by spouses almost always pass to the spouse as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. Bank accounts held jointly pass to the other account holders etc.

I am rather surprised that your husband would not automatically assume that his mother inherited everything. That would certainly be the norm.