Life Insurance Dispute Multiple BeneficiariesMultiple Beneficiaries Fighting Over A Life Insurance Policy? Disputing a life insurance payout when there was clearly a named beneficiary is difficult. However, that doesn't mean family members or others won't try to claim money that isn't rightfully theirs.
More Than One Beneficiary If there was more than one beneficiary named in a life insurance policy, the payout should be split according to the insured's decision. For example, sometimes each beneficiary is given half of the payout. In other circumstances, one beneficiary receives a certain percentage of the payout, and the other receives a different percentage. This could be ten percent and ninety percent, or literally any other combination that the insured designated.
Common Reasons Disputes Occur One of the most common reasons for disputes over life insurance beneficiaries occurs due to a lack of specificity. If the insured designated their beneficiaries as "their spouse and their children," this could end up being a problem. Are they each supposed to get an equal share? What if there are stepchildren? Are they entitled to a portion? This kind of general designation can lead to trouble, so it's a good idea to always be as clear as possible when designating a beneficiary.
Contesting A Life Insurance Beneficiary Successfully contesting a life insurance beneficiary is difficult. In order to make the attempt, a lawsuit must be filed, or the person disputing the beneficiary must file other legal documents with the probate court that is tasked with handling the decedent's estate. If the life insurance is contested, the insurance company will not pay out this money until there is a resolution. The named beneficiary and the person challenging the beneficiary will both be required to present evidence in court.
The Life Insurance Policy Overrides The Decedent's Will In almost all cases, the life insurance policy and the named beneficiary will override anything written in the decedent's will. Even if the decedent wrote in their will that they wanted both of their children to split everything equally, this wouldn't happen unless they named both of their children as the beneficiaries of their life insurance policy. In theory, the other sibling could sue the sibling who was the named beneficiary based on what was written in the will, but they are unlikely to be successful.
Generally, to successfully contest the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, at least one of the following criteria would need to be proven:
1. The deceased did not have the mental capacity to know what they were signing when they named a beneficiary 2. The beneficiary had a confidential relationship with the deceased. For example, a child was living with their parent, the insured. The parent was dependent on the child for food and shelter and was therefore very easily influenced by this person. If not for these influences and the confidential relationship, the insured would not have named this person their beneficiary. 3. The beneficiary limited the insured from having outside contact with other people, which influenced their decision regarding the beneficiary. Green Mountain Law Firm SEO 104 W Main St Suite 2 Bloomsburg, PA 17815 (570) 273-0898 Experts in generating exclusive leads that turn into quality cases for attorneys since 2010. https://www.greenmountainlawfirmseo.com/
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