Thanks for the replies.
The account proceeds were directed to the account owner's beneficiaries. The account owner did not have a will. The primary did have a will. The arrangement was a 2nd marriage and had stepchildren from the deceased primary and stepchildren from the account holder. Primary's stepchildren contested the estate of acct owner but were denied because of time limitation to contest.
So....does anyone think its worth it to hire an attorney to look into this issue? The acct value was high 5 figures.
Okay.
So, to update AJ's theory (because I am confused by your posts) are you saying:
Dick and Jane are married.
Dick has an account, Jane is the primary beneficiary. It is the second marriage for both. Both have children from a previous marriage. (Say Dick has kids Spot and Puff, Jane has daughter Sally.)
Jane dies. She has a will, because she is smart.
Then Dick dies.
The primary beneficiary is dead.
We do not know if there is a secondary beneficiary because you never told us.
However, if there is a secondary beneficiary (or more), and the account is set up so that those secondary beneficiaries are benefit only if the primary beneficiary/beneficiaries predecease the account holder, then yes, the primary beneficiary's estate is out of luck.
So, for example, if Sally is listed in Jane's will, but Sally is not a secondary beneficiary of Dick's account, but Spot and Puff are, then Sally is out of luck.