Trustee Stole Insurance Benefits

[mykeymykey]

What is the name of your state? California

My Mother and Father probably had a life insurance policy, maybe with Allstate.
His 4 children (including myself) were the beneficiaries of that policy.
Just before my father died he put a "Trustee" in charge of his estate.

The inclination is that the benefits were claimed using deception by this "trustee" and hidden from the beneficiaries. These benefits were probably deposited into one or more bank accounts.
This "trustee" is of very dubious character....
I have most of the bank account numbers, some of the bank records given to me by my father before he died.
Some of these bank records may indicate that there was an Allstate life insurance policy.

What I am looking for now is a court order to examine the bank accounts.
To determine if these life benefits were deposited into the account(s)...(I have the account numbers)
to trace the deposits back to the originating life policy.
Then to determine if the benefits were improperly claimed from that policy, and return those monies to the beneficiaries named in the Life Insurance policy.

Does this sound crazy? Or what should I do to get the money back?
What type of motion do I file?

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? California

My Mother and Father probably had a life insurance policy, maybe with Allstate.
His 4 children (including myself) were the beneficiaries of that policy.
Just before my father died he put a "Trustee" in charge of his estate.

The inclination is that the benefits were claimed using deception by this "trustee" and hidden from the beneficiaries. These benefits were probably deposited into one or more bank accounts.
This "trustee" is of very dubious character....
I have most of the bank account numbers, some of the bank records given to me by my father before he died.
Some of these bank records may indicate that there was an Allstate life insurance policy.

What I am looking for now is a court order to examine the bank accounts.
To determine if these life benefits were deposited into the account(s)...(I have the account numbers)
to trace the deposits back to the originating life policy.
Then to determine if the benefits were improperly claimed from that policy, and return those monies to the beneficiaries named in the Life Insurance policy.

Does this sound crazy? Or what should I do to get the money back?
What type of motion do I file?

What evidence do you have that there was a policy? Because ^^ is just speculation/conjecture.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? California

My Mother and Father probably had a life insurance policy, maybe with Allstate.
His 4 children (including myself) were the beneficiaries of that policy.
Just before my father died he put a "Trustee" in charge of his estate.

The inclination is that the benefits were claimed using deception by this "trustee" and hidden from the beneficiaries. These benefits were probably deposited into one or more bank accounts.
This "trustee" is of very dubious character....
I have most of the bank account numbers, some of the bank records given to me by my father before he died.
Some of these bank records may indicate that there was an Allstate life insurance policy.

What I am looking for now is a court order to examine the bank accounts.
To determine if these life benefits were deposited into the account(s)...(I have the account numbers)
to trace the deposits back to the originating life policy.
Then to determine if the benefits were improperly claimed from that policy, and return those monies to the beneficiaries named in the Life Insurance policy.

Does this sound crazy? Or what should I do to get the money back?
What type of motion do I file?

A life insurance policy could not be claimed by anyone other than the beneficiaries. A trustee or exectutor could not claim the proceeds of a life insurance policy unless an estate or a trust was listed as the beneficiary of the policy.

 

[adjusterjack]

I agree. You would be wise to determine that there WAS life insurance instead of going off half cocked because you think there was.

I was also going to point out what LdiJ just pointed out.

Have you called Allstate? That would be the first place to start.

There are two resources that might be able to find out if your father had a life insurance policy. The first one is a free service:

https://content.naic.org/article/news_release_naic_life_insurance_policy_locator_helps_consumers_find_650_million_life_insurance.htm

The second is a pay service if the first one doesn't work out.

https://www.mib.com/lost_life_insurance.html

 

[mykeymykey]

What evidence do you have that there was a policy? Because ^^ is just speculation/conjecture.

My father's bank records indicate that he was paying for an Allstate Policy.
I have the records from B of A.
I located and called his insurance agents and they refused to discuss anything about the policy.
I would think that if there was a policy, that a beneficiary named in the policy should have a right to know about it.

 

[mykeymykey]

I agree. You would be wise to determine that there WAS life insurance instead of going off half cocked because you think there was.

I was also going to point out what LdiJ just pointed out.

Have you called Allstate? That would be the first place to start.

There are two resources that might be able to find out if your father had a life insurance policy. The first one is a free service:

https://content.naic.org/article/news_release_naic_life_insurance_policy_locator_helps_consumers_find_650_million_life_insurance.htm

The second is a pay service if the first one doesn't work out.

https://www.mib.com/lost_life_insurance.html

Thanks I'll try that.

 

[mykeymykey]

A life insurance policy could not be claimed by anyone other than the beneficiaries. A trustee or exectutor could not claim the proceeds of a life insurance policy unless an estate or a trust was listed as the beneficiary of the policy.

Oh....you don't know this "trustee."
He's a very resourceful criminal, to say the least.
I think he's using several identities, that's just the start.
He works his way in as a senior "care-giver."

There's an 11 page account of how he did this...it's more like an Alfred Hitchcock Movie.
We call him: " Professor Moriarty "
I mean this guy is a real psychopath....

 

[adjusterjack]

My father's bank records indicate that he was paying for an Allstate Policy.

Allstate sells auto and home insurance, too.

I located and called his insurance agents and they refused to discuss anything about the policy.

Try Allstate's life insurance claims department. There's a toll free number on the following web page:

https://www.allstate.com/life-insurance/life-insurance-claims.aspx

Say "I am the beneficiary of my father's life insurance but the policy got lost. Can you look up his name please."

 

[mykeymykey]

Allstate sells auto and home insurance, too.



Try Allstate's life insurance claims department. There's a toll free number on the following web page:

https://www.allstate.com/life-insurance/life-insurance-claims.aspx

Say "I am the beneficiary of my father's life insurance but the policy got lost. Can you look up his name please."

Yes
There is indication of auto policy and life policy payments (both) on the bank records.
I tried Allstate claims, they sent me to the insurance agents Co. who will tell me nothing....

I did start the policy search as suggested above.
Thanks to all who offered ideas. Appreciate the suggestions.

 

[zddoodah]

My Mother and Father probably had a life insurance policy

Just FYI, in the world of normal folks, there is no such thing as a life insurance policy that insures multiple people's lives, so are you saying that each of them had a policy (two policies total)? If not, which of them was the insured?

His 4 children (including myself) were the beneficiaries of that policy.

I find it somewhat curious that you describe the policy as "probable" but seem certain about the beneficiaries. In your follow up posts, you indicate that you have evidence of payments made to an insurance company, but it's not at all clear to me (a) why you assume the payments were for a life insurance policy, or (b) why you are seemingly positive about who the beneficiaries are.

Just before my father died he put a "Trustee" in charge of his estate.

The inclination is that the benefits were claimed using deception by this "trustee" and hidden from the beneficiaries.

Not really sure what all this might mean or how much of it is speculation on your part.

Does this sound crazy?

Little bit, but maybe there's something there and you're not describing it very well.

Or what should I do to get the money back?

Well...let's start with a couple question (in addition to those that I asked above):

1. When did your mother die?
2. When did your father die?
3. Please explain exactly what you meant when you wrote that, "[j]ust before [your] father died[,] he put a 'Trustee' in charge of his estate."
4. Was your mother's estate probated? If so, is probate still open, and who is the court-appointed personal representative of the estate, and is that person represented by an attorney?
5. Same questions about your father's estate.

I located and called his insurance agents and they refused to discuss anything about the policy.
I would think that if there was a policy, that a beneficiary named in the policy should have a right to know about it.

One conclusion that could be reached from these two sentence is that there is no policy of which you are a beneficiary. That said, you're free to contact the insurer's claims department and ask what you need to submit to make a claim against a life insurance policy.

 

[quincy]

Just FYI, in the world of normal folks, there is no such thing as a life insurance policy that insures multiple people's lives, so are you saying that each of them had a policy (two policies total)? If not, which of them was the insured?



I find it somewhat curious that you describe the policy as "probable" but seem certain about the beneficiaries. In your follow up posts, you indicate that you have evidence of payments made to an insurance company, but it's not at all clear to me (a) why you assume the payments were for a life insurance policy, or (b) why you are seemingly positive about who the beneficiaries are.



Not really sure what all this might mean or how much of it is speculation on your part.



Little bit, but maybe there's something there and you're not describing it very well.



Well...let's start with a couple question (in addition to those that I asked above):

1. When did your mother die?
2. When did your father die?
3. Please explain exactly what you meant when you wrote that, "[j]ust before [your] father died[,] he put a 'Trustee' in charge of his estate."
4. Was your mother's estate probated? If so, is probate still open, and who is the court-appointed personal representative of the estate, and is that person represented by an attorney?
5. Same questions about your father's estate.



One conclusion that could be reached from these two sentence is that there is no policy of which you are a beneficiary. That said, you're free to contact the insurer's claims department and ask what you need to submit to make a claim against a life insurance policy.

What I have bolded above is incorrect.

State Farm, for example, offers a single “Joint Universal” life insurance policy that offers coverage for two individuals (e.g., couples, business partners) and other insurance companies offer “survivorship” policies that cover two people. It is generally cheaper to purchase a joint or survivorship policy than two individual policies.

And these policies are not all that uncommon in the world of normal folks.

 

[ALawyer]

Was a Will submitted for probate in California (and/or another state in which he owned real estate)? If so you should have been given notice and an opportunity to object as you are an heir at law. If the Will was submitted who was the named Executor/Personal Representative? Have you spoken with that person?

Assuming no one already has been appointed executor/administrator/personal representative as an heir at law of your father, you (and/or your siblings) also could file in Superior Court to be named Administrator/Personal Representative of his estate and in that capacity conduct an investigation into his affairs.

 

[Dandy Don]

A court order to examine the bank accounts is probably not possible and may not even be fruitful and may not be the direction you need to go.

It's not clear to me, from your posting, whether the policy was taken out on your father's life or on your mother's life.

The reason that you did not receive any information about this from the insurance companies is that, for privacy reasons, they are only allowed to release information to the listed beneficiaries and to the executor of the estate.

What could have happened is that the trustee may have either (1) asked the policyholder to sign a beneficiary designation change form that gave permission for the TRUSTEE (mentioned by name) to be the new beneficiary, or (2) the trustee may have submitted a beneficiary change designation that the trustee fraudulently forged a signature on, which obviously would have been illegal.

The only way you will be able to find out if that happened is to get a lawsuit filed against the insurance company. A business law attorney who has experience with a specialty of law called "insurance interpleader cases" (where there is a dispute about who the beneficiaries should be) or an attorney who has experience with lawsuits against insurance companies can assist you with this.

 

[quincy]

This thread is from July 2020.