What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? NY
My dad lived with another woman for 35 yrs despite still being legally married to my mom even up to the day he died. His companion is the beneficiary on his NY State pension and 2 life insurance policies totalling about $19k. Several months before he died he told my mom that she was the sole beneficiary on a $25K life ins. policy. His companion denies that any such policy exists. His companion has also given suspicion over the years of committing fraudulent acts in regards to my dad's finances; eg. forging and cashing checks, in both my dad and mom's name. Somehow, my dad took advantage of my mom's sweetness and managed to convince my mom not to pursue legally.My question is , knowing that the possibilty of insurance fraud exists based on past history, is there any way for my mom to find out if in fact this policy does or does not exist, and if so and my mom is not listed as the beneficiary, what course of action would be advisable? Also considering that the benefit amount is small ($25K), and the cost of investigating this further along with legal fees may be costly, what advice can you give a dear old lady to put her mind at ease so that she would ease her doubts knowing that her questions were answered even if the results were not the desired results? Is there any way to find out what life ins. policies and stated beneficiaries were in force up to his death, legally? Thank you for your time and response, it is greatly appreciated!
My dad lived with another woman for 35 yrs despite still being legally married to my mom even up to the day he died. His companion is the beneficiary on his NY State pension and 2 life insurance policies totalling about $19k. Several months before he died he told my mom that she was the sole beneficiary on a $25K life ins. policy. His companion denies that any such policy exists. His companion has also given suspicion over the years of committing fraudulent acts in regards to my dad's finances; eg. forging and cashing checks, in both my dad and mom's name. Somehow, my dad took advantage of my mom's sweetness and managed to convince my mom not to pursue legally.My question is , knowing that the possibilty of insurance fraud exists based on past history, is there any way for my mom to find out if in fact this policy does or does not exist, and if so and my mom is not listed as the beneficiary, what course of action would be advisable? Also considering that the benefit amount is small ($25K), and the cost of investigating this further along with legal fees may be costly, what advice can you give a dear old lady to put her mind at ease so that she would ease her doubts knowing that her questions were answered even if the results were not the desired results? Is there any way to find out what life ins. policies and stated beneficiaries were in force up to his death, legally? Thank you for your time and response, it is greatly appreciated!