Sunday, March 4, 2012

Irrevocable life insurance policy?

My husband divorced his wife when his little boy was 6 months old. That little boy is now in his 20's and has no relationship with his dad by mutual choice. He has been in and out of jail and is a real trouble maker. We have not seen nor heard from him in years. My husband and I have been married for 15 years. He and I have one daughter together. 15 years ago - he changed his life insurance benefits to me and recently added his daughter. My question invoves some recently discovered wording in his divorce decree where he was required to have a life insurance poilcy of $50,000 for his son. The wording says irrevocable. He never set this up but his son was the benificiary of his poilcy for years until we married and he changed it to me. My concern is that these people who he does not get a long with will come out of the wood work for 50,000 in the event something happens to me. He thinks this expired when his son turned 18. My thought is there is not date on the policy requirements. I am looking for solutions. We do not want this son to benefit from his death since they have such an ugly relationship in life. He has stolen money from us in the past and I have no doubt he would be right there for the win fall? My husband works for the postal service and all his life insurance benefits are through them. Can we guarantee an airtight situation where his son does not receive money? Any comments or suggestions would be helpful.Irrevocable life insurance policy?
Irrevocable means, you cannot change the policy.



HOWEVER, that clause, is written INTO the policy, so IF he had/has an irrevocable policy, the beneficiary CANNOT be changed.



It's quite possible that ex-wifey owns that policy, and pays the premium for it. If that's the case, there's NO WAY you can "make sure son can't benefit", because you - and hubby - have no control over that policy any more.



So, no. You cannot guarantee a situation where son won't receive money. Once permission is granted for that policy, to ex wife or whomever, it's IRREVOKABLE. You can't take it back.Irrevocable life insurance policy?
Wow! That's a sticky situation. I always tell my clients to always label their beneficiaries as 'revocable' in case of situations such as these. It CAN be changed, but not without your son's written consent/agreement. This 'expiration' didn't occur at his turning 18. In fact, it is valid until the death of your husband. I suggest if this be the only option...do it in a way that is beneficial to you. (wink wink)Irrevocable life insurance policy?
They obviously didn't enforce that before because if it were irrevocable then it would already be in place. He can't make a claim against your life insurance because the contract is with your husband. If the son wants to make a claim and enforce that (if it's enforceable at all) then he would need to do it now. He can't sue you for the life insurance proceeds in your name at all.

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