question about life insurance

[stanlee]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL

my mother's been paying life insurance on her ex husband for 20 yrs now, they're divorced 10 , it dawned on her other day to check if shes still the beneficiary, life insurance company tells her they cant tell her anything , is there anything she can do? shed rather not talk to him, he was very abusive. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cbg]

Unless she is the OWNER of the policy, she is not entitled to any information about it; nor can she determine the beneficiary.

Was she court ordered to pay for this policy?

 

[Betty]

Why was she still paying on the policy for 20 yrs. if they have been divorced for 10? Was it court ordered, for some reason, that she pay for it or was it because she was assuming she was the beneficiary?

If she isn't the owner of the policy (even if she is paying the premiums), the ins. co. is not obligated to furnish her any information about the policy (she is not entitled to any info).

 

[stanlee]

she wasnt court ordered to continue paying, when they seperated she had the bill go to her house and she paid it since her ex-husband was broke and she knew at the time she was beneficiary, she didnt think he could change it until i made her aware he could , is there anyway she could get a lawyer to get back her 10 yrs of payments, i mean isnt it wrong for them to except payment from the 3rd party benificiary? thanks for your help guys

 

[justalayman]

she wasnt court ordered to continue paying, when they seperated she had the bill go to her house and she paid it since her ex-husband was broke and she knew at the time she was beneficiary, she didnt think he could change it until i made her aware he could , is there anyway she could get a lawyer to get back her 10 yrs of payments, i mean isnt it wrong for them to except payment from the 3rd party benificiary? thanks for your help guys

who actually owns the policy? Based on the insurance company's actions, it would appear the ex husband. If so, she has no right to information.

Unless there was some contract in place where she would remain the beneficiary to the policy in exchange for her paying for the policy, she is not due the return of any money.

i mean isnt it wrong for them to except payment from the 3rd party benificiary?

No, not at all.

when they seperated she had the bill go to her house and she paid it since her ex-husband was broke

sounds like a gift.

she knew at the time she was beneficiary, she didnt think he could change it until i made her aware he could ,

seems like she was mistaken

If she wanted a policy where she could control who was named beneficiary, she should have purchased a policy.

 

[cbg]

There is nothing even remotely unusual for a third party to pay for an insurance policy. Nor is the billing office or the accounts receivable office necessarily aware of who the beneficiary of the policy is. Or even the insured.

Since it is not court ordered, she is free to stop payments and let the policy lapse. But no, there is no way for her to get past payments back.

Of course, it's also possible that she IS the beneficiary - unless she is the owner, they're not going to tell her anything about the policy even if she is.

But if he owns the policy, he can change the beneficiary any time he wants, regardless of who is paying for it.

 

[stanlee]

okay, thanks alot for the help, appreciate it immensely, peace

 

[Betty]

The ins. co. is not going to return any premiums already paid. She can stop paying premiums currently (the policy will lapse) but the problem is she may not want to stop if there is a possibility she is the beneficiary. It's hard to get any information on the policy if you are not the owner.