Can the next of kin fight a benificiary on a life insurance policy?
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Can the next of kin fight a benificiary on a life insurance policy?
My father has recently passed away and he had not had a chance to change his beneficiary on his life insurance from his half sister, to me, his only daughter. He moved here last minute and was only here a 2 months before he died. She isn’t doing anything as the beneficiary and hasn’t even filled out the claim form yet. I can’t physically make her do it. I need to know if I can fight her for it so I can pay for his services.
Asked on February 16, 2012 under Insurance Law, Delaware
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The problem with most life insurance policies is that when there is a designated beneficiary on such a policy and the person whose life is insured dies, the beneficiary gets the insurance policy as a "gift" tax free.
In the situation that you are writing about, if your father's half sister was the designated beneficiary under his life insurance policy when he dies, she is entitled to the policy pay out, not you or your father's estate.
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