Life insurance policy that has no beneficiary listed

[duckquest]

ohio
A devorced friend died and had three grown children. He had an insurance policy from work that originally listed his daughter as the beneficiary. His company changed insurance companies and a new beneficiary card should have been filled out. For some reason he neglected to re-submit a beneficiary card. The insurance company says their policy is to pay a policy that does not list a beneficiary to a spouse first and if there is no spouse it will go to the children. His brother is the executor of the estate and is out to get his percentage of this in the estate. He says this money has to go to the estate account and be divided up including him with a percentage. Is this legal? Can he cheat my friends children out of part of this insurance money?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

The brother is absolutely wrong. While the money automatically goes to the Estate, the whole amount gets divided ("per stirpes" **) among the deceased's children. The brother, if appointed as the executor of the Estate, only gets his "statutory" fees for being the executor or representative of the Estate, no matter how large the Estate might be. The brother doesn't get a percentage or "a cut of the action". Statutory fees; that's all he gets (assuming that he's not named as an Heir in the brother's Will).

But, what are you going to do ? There's nothing you can do as an "outsider".

IAAL

** PER STIRPES - Prounounced "Per Stir Peeze" Lat. Term used to designate a system of inheritance under which children take among them the share which their parent would have taken had he survived the decedent. Thus the children are said to claim their shares by representing their parent.

 

[duckquest]

ohio
His daughter has talked to me extensively about this and seems confused as to what she should do. I had suggested that what he's doing is not legally correct and that the three children should get their own lawyer to look after their best interests. They don't have much money and were not sure if they went to a lawyer about this if it would be a waste of their time and money. I will still incourage them to get a lawyer to keep the "brother executor" in line. I don't feel that the lawyer handling the estate is handling this correctly because he should put this lame idea to rest. I sometimes think he's working for the executor not the estate. Can this be the case?

 

[duckquest]

Also I forgot to mention he is listed in the will to receive 20% of the estate, that is why he wants the money.