Deceased account beneficiary

[Kauper]

t is the name of your state? Illinois.
My question is: account beneficiary, who had a will, dies before account owner, but account beneficiary's estate is not settled before account owner dies. Is account beneficiary's estate still entitled to proceeds from the account?

 

[adjusterjack]

Let me see if I've got this right.

Bob has an account that lists Jim as beneficiary.

Jim dies.

Then Bob dies without having changed the beneficiary on the account.

Yes, I think the money should go to Jim's estate.

Why do you ask? Is somebody saying no? What's your position in the scenario?

 

[t74]

Was there a contingent beneficiary named?

 

[Kauper]

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.

 

[Kauper]

Was there a contingent beneficiary named?

To my knowledge, no contingent. We are trying to get more information from the brokerage that managed the account. Difficult due to privacy practices by brokerage

 

[LdiJ]

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.

Your use of "account holder" and "primary" is confusing. However, if someone contested and were denied because of a time limitation then hiring an attorney is probably not going to change things. You could pay for an hour of an attorney's time however to get a consult.

 

[HighwayMan]

The account owner did not have a will. The primary did have a will.

Primary WHAT? What are you talking about?

 

[not2cleverRed]

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.