Failure to Designate a Life Insurance Policy Beneficiary
Life insurance is something most people don't worry about until they begin to reach an older age, though some situations may come up where you might find yourself involved with the legal matters of a family member if they have included you in their life insurance policy. When a person first acquires a life insurance policy, they have the responsibility to designate an eligible beneficiary to receive the wealth of the policy in the event of their death.
In some cases, things may happen where the insured person either fails to make a designation for a beneficiary or revokes his original designation and doesn't make a new one. Because of this, there may be some disagreement between possibly eligible beneficiaries as to who should be first in line to receive the proceeds from the policy. When this happens, the services of an experienced life insurance attorney may be necessary to help mediate and settle any disputes between possibly beneficiaries.
Statutes
If an insured person fails to name a beneficiary or to replace a revoked beneficiary, the proceeds of the policy are usually payable to the persons fixed by statute as eligible beneficiaries. The order of payment of the benefits also generally follows the order set forth in the statute.
Joint Designations
If a statute sets forth a joint designation of beneficiaries, such as "to the widow and children," and then designates others who will take in the absence of a widow or children, the widow usually takes the entire benefit if there are no children.
Preference for Widow/Widower
When no beneficiary designation has been made, an insured's widow or widower is preferred over other potential beneficiaries, such as the insured's estate. A widow or widower will also usually take where there has been no new designation of a beneficiary upon the death of the former beneficiary. However, if the widow or widower is ineligible to take, the insured's children will be preferred to a person claiming the proceeds as an oral gift.
If you are involved in any disputes regarding a life insurance policy, don't hesitate to get the best legal help you can find. Call the law firm of Parry Deering Futscher & Sparks, P.S.C. to find out how their skilled life insurance lawyers can successfully settle any disagreements over a failed designation of a beneficiary or litigate any other aspects of life and health insurance law.
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