Insurance policy ?

[DOTK]

State:Mass

I am the Executor for my great aunt's estate. There is nothing
left to the estate (20dollars in a checking account) There is
however a insurance policy worth 7,500..0 dolars. I received
a letter from the Commonweath of mass, they claim 187,166.00
is owed to the state.

Question: Does the state have claim to the insurance policy ?

Thanks

 

[advisor10]

10-30-2001

DEAR DOTK:

The main question you need to answer in this case is: who is the beneficiary of this insurance policy? If it is an individual, then the beneficiary can receive their payment check directly, and technically, the insurance policy is NOT considered an estate asset and does not even have to be reported in estate/probate records.

However, if the estate is the beneficiary, then it might have to be reported as an asset, but please be sure to check with a local attorney to get a second opinion on this.

On what basis is the state claiming this large amount of money is due? This estate is technically bankrupt (you can inform the state of this by mail, if you wish), and unfortunately, they will not be able to collect, since all creditors with any outstanding bills will have to go unpaid and they can't get their money from anyone else.

If YOU are the beneficiary of the policy, you may want to take all or part of it and pay this state debt (or other debts--funeral expenses, taxes, etc.), but there is certainly NO OBLIGATION for you to do that.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]

 

[DOTK]

Hi

The beneficiary was my dad, he passed away last Oct. His
aunt (my great aunt) passed away in april of this year.

 

[advisor10]

10-30-2001

DEAR DOTK:

Please send me an e-mail message to the e-mail address shown below. I want to give you a suggestion that could help you find an answer to your question.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]