Who Should Be Entitled To Life Insurance Settlement?
Posted August 23, 2009 – 10:24 am in: structured settlements FAQIf the life insurance was paid out only to the survivng spouse and the dependents, since they were listed as the beneficaries, is the surving spouse obligated to give money to the deceased’s family members?
Tags: Entitled, Insurance, Life, Settlement, Should
8 Comments
nope. sometimes the beneficiaries and family members enter into ancillary agreements to divide up the proceeds between all of them, but the beneficiaries are not obligated to do so.
No, I believe that the surviving spouse is not obligated to give money to anyone except the dependents (which usually mean children, or anyone who is tax-classified as dependent on the surviving spouse).
Ethically, unless the family members need the money or ask the surviving spouse for assistance, and there was a lot of money put to the surviving spouse in the settlement, I would assume they would give them something. Money is material- its unfortunate that the surviving spouse cant share the deceased anymore-but they can share what was money was left to them, and always, memories.
Absolutely not.
The life insurance is distributed in the percentages as stated in the policy. If there are no %, it is distributed equally to the named parties. Any relative not named is not entitled to any proceeds.
Life insurance is not part of an estate, and is not covered by probate or inheritance law.
No.
1) The money legally belongs to the named beneficiaries
2) The deceased chose who to leave the money to.
3) The spouse and children need the money, now that the income of the deceased has stopped.
4) The other family members sound like greedy creeps.
Right. Insurance is something that someone pays for to leave money to specific individuals. It has nothing to do with the estate.
If you name is on the policy you get the money. If not then there is no way to claim part of the money. Simple as that.
only the named beneficiaries are entitled. I don’t suspect the other “family members” paid any of the insurance premiums, so I don’t know why they would even think, other than pure greed, they would be entitled to something they did not pay for.
Nope…if the policy names him/her as the beneficiary, then it is his/hers to do with as he/she wishes.
No.