arisa said:
What is the name of your state? Minnesota
I was re-married about 3 1/2 years ago. We each had 2 children from previous marriages... and also have 1 child together. I update my insurance to reflect my spouse, new child and 2 other children. I asked my husband if he could get a policy to cover me and his child from our marriage... he refused. The other day I opened the mail and found that he has a current life insurance policy for his other two children (different mothers), but not us.
I remember that when I applied for insurance there was something on there that stated if I was not naming my spouse as the primary beneficiary - I had to have a signed waiver. How is it that he is able to hold a policy that I am not named as a beneficiary... and I did not sign a waiver. Although, he may have gotten this policy before we were married.
In either case, would there be issues if he were to pass away... and never let the insurance company know that he was married?
Minnesota
Are you aware that it is a Federal Crime to open His mail if your name
is not on it too?
Are you aware that Anybody can make Anybody their beneficiary? A
bene. does Not have to be a spouse. You can purchase a policy yourself,
FOR Him & make Yourself the beneficiary. There would be NO Legal issues
in Minnesota. NOONE can make a legal claim unless they are listed as
a beneficiary on the policy.
It is Extremely necessary though to name 2 or 3 contingent benes.
singlely or together. The more, the better. They may pass away before
you do. That way also, if anything happened to you or to both of you,
or to any of the contingents, someone would get the money. Otherwise
NO one may get the money. When you name more than one bene. (2 will
be divided equally) or you can indicate percentages if you want someone
to have more of it. (3 would get 33 1/3 percent each,) UNLESS THEY ARE
LISTED AND NUMBERED ON SEPERATE LINES. Then who is on the next line
will be the bene. if the one(s) before them have deceased.
Be careful with term ins. policies as they usually expire at a certain age.
Age may look far away to you but it happens sooner than you think.
Signed Waivers are a protection for the insurance company to be pro-
tected from a later lawsuit. (maybe the angry spouse?) You can call a
local Attorney and ask them if you have to have it signed, for free, but
if YOU purchase it on him you don't need to. When my Husband passed
away, recently, I signed a waiver to make my daughter the bene. 6 mo.
before, for his pension. It said I could NOT be the bene. Some people
also choose this policy to leave it TO their estate so their spouse can
collect it but have to make the estate the bene. This could put the
estate over the legal limit for inheritence tax. Her being the bene. will
protect things like the law that has and will be considered again to try
to block people from collecting both SS and their Pensions. Ya pay into
both. Also will keep unscrupulous agencies from getting their hands on
it. It's not mine anymore. (Only my trusty daughter who would have
gotten it later anyway.)
I was also told that it was OK, I did not have to sign the waiver anyway.
This told me that it probably would not hold up in a court of law,
basically because it is the company's policy, Not Law. We both worked
for this company a total of 37.6 yrs.
A beneficiary is anybody named on a piece of paper, signed.
**(Have the policy you purchase copied, one for each bene. and have
each one notorized and then give each beneficiary a REAL copy.)**
Some companies will not accept copies of the real policy but they have
no choice if they are notorized. Some companies switch owners (change
names) when they sell out. One of mine actually informed me, the 2nd
time they had been sold, that they did not get any of the original
paperwork and so were automatically making my spouse the bene. It is
a policy for my children that I took out in about 1988. Just be aware that
company's can do this. What if I was not aware of what they had done &
he has already passed away. My estate might get it? I really doubt it. Not
with today's terminology, but neither would my kids without "proof."
Benes. HAVE to be LISTED. People do NOT automatically inherit insurance
policy money. I have dealt with this in Minnesota, Iowa and Texas.
**This is exactly why your beneficiaries ALL need notorized ones. It
proves that YOU actually signed each one.* When the time comes to
cash them in, ONLY 1 will be needed by the company. Only 1 should be
sent to them.
That way, should the company "lose" it, there will be more out there.
You SHOULD write this on each one of your benes. copies so that they
know this.*** Protect your Beneficiaries.
Also, if anybody names a spouse and the spouse dies or if you divorce,
make sure you change the benes. on your policies!! My mom &
dad divorced and she never removed him (39 years). Back then there
were no percentages and we were told it was his not ours because his
name appeared first with a semicolon and the word "then." We were not
even looked at as contingents. I actually saw this policy. Problem was,
he died just before we found this policy. We got Nothing. A similar story
I have but won't go into of my G-father who was a multimillionare in
Iowa. Right, WGN. I hope you have better luck than I have had. I would
not make a good ad for policies, but remember, they are not ALL bad out
there, but they can be tricky. You may have a policy reviewed by an
Attorney or other professional. After all, you're talking about a good
chunk of money and a sizable amount of your money invested over a
long period of time. Who else can understand their terminology? Use a
magnifier to see the fine print that they hope you won't see, and if you
have questions, be sure to jot them down so you can investigate or have
them investigated. Also,*(tell the agent selling you on a policy that you
will have to have time to review the policy Before you sign it so you will
need to take it with you and get back to him/her. If they start to pressure
you, get up and walk out.)* Take your business elsewhere. Do NOT sign
one of these quickly on-the-spot. ...Good Luck To You ~Mary~
