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Posted by on November 3, 2007, 6:55 am
Hi,
I am actually posting this question for my mom in regards to a term-
life policy she holds.
On the policy, the beneficiary is presently listed as her husband.
They have been having some major relationship issues, and she wishes
to change the beneficiary to myself (her son). She is fearful however
that he may find out. She has asked me if it would be legally
acceptable to write a signed letter stating her wishes - that the
policy be paid out to me instead of my father. Must she change the
beneficiary, or is such a letter acceptable?
Thank you.
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Posted by joetaxpayer on November 3, 2007, 9:26 am
rjsmi21@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am actually posting this question for my mom in regards to a term-
> life policy she holds.
>
> On the policy, the beneficiary is presently listed as her husband.
> They have been having some major relationship issues, and she wishes
> to change the beneficiary to myself (her son). She is fearful however
> that he may find out. She has asked me if it would be legally
> acceptable to write a signed letter stating her wishes - that the
> policy be paid out to me instead of my father. Must she change the
> beneficiary, or is such a letter acceptable?
A letter to whom? The insurance company? No, it needs to go through the
proper procedure, a change of beneficiary form. You say she holds the
policy. As long as she is the owner of the policy, it's her right to
change it to you or whomever she chooses.
Not to open a can of worms, but is she's fearful of how he's react,
there's more of a problem that the posters here can help with.
Another consideration - she can change the owner to you, and make you
the beneficiary as well. As least that way, you will get the premium
notice, and any paperwork that may remind the husband the policy even
exists.
You may also want to check the beneficiaries on her other accounts, IRA,
Brokerage, etc. Since IRAs cannot be held jointly, a change of
beneficiary there is pretty simple. Other accounts held joint, less so. JOE
www.joetaxpayer.com
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Posted by Will Trice on November 5, 2007, 5:08 pm
joetaxpayer wrote:
> Since IRAs cannot be held jointly, a change of
> beneficiary there is pretty simple.
Don't many states require the consent of the beneficiary spouse to
change the beneficiary to a non-spouse? This doesn't sound feasible for
the OP's parent.
-Will
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Posted by on November 5, 2007, 6:12 pm
[IRA]
> Don't many states require the consent of the beneficiary spouse to
> change the beneficiary to a non-spouse? This doesn't sound feasible
> for the OP's parent.
It depends on the state. If the couple lives in a
community property state, I'm pretty sure that's the
case. Otherwise, I don't think so.
For a 401k, it's probably different - at least where I
am, when I did my rollover, I wasn't married and I needed
nothing for the 401k but my own signature attesting to
that fact - but for my MPP, I had to get a *notarized*
signature attesting to it! (were I married at that time,
I'd have needed a notarized signature from my spouse).
--
Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
No HTML in E-Mail! -- http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
Are you posting responses that are easy for others to follow?
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/06/14/quoting
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Posted by kastnna on November 5, 2007, 6:34 pm
> Don't many states require the consent of the beneficiary spouse to
> change the beneficiary to a non-spouse? This doesn't sound feasible for
> the OP's parent.
>
> -Will
I think that only applies to community property states doesn't it?
I know from experience that GA & AL don't require anything other than
the account owners signature.
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