How difficult is it to rival an insurance claim?
How difficult is it to rival a life insurance claim?
My father informed me that he wanted to make me the beneficiary of his life insurance policy 11 days before he passed away. He did not have a chance to make the update with MetLife. So, my step-mother is still listed as the beneficiary and all I have as proof that he wanted me to be the beneficiary and NOT her is an email that he sent to me. We live in Arkansas and I am my father’s only child and closest living relative.
What are my chances of getting the money?
I can’t speak specifically for Arkansas so I’d recommend you speak to an attorney for a more definitive answer.
Your chances are probably not good to none at all. The life insurance company must by law give the funds to the beneficiary named on the policy. You can’t stop that from happening. You would have to sue your step mother in civil court after she receives the money. A judge will then make a decision about how much if any you and she are each entitled to. If you sue you can file a motion to freeze the funds until the case is heard. If the motion is granted she would not be able to access the money. That would give you some leverage to negotiate with her for part of the money. I assume since you asked the question she is not willing to give you any.
Leaving someone money as beneficiary of a life insurance policy is completely different than leaving money in a will. A will can be contested when it enters probate; there is usually nothing you can do about a life insurance policy.
I would say they are around zero.
He did not change his policy. It is not hard to change them, it would have taken very little effort.
He has a widow.
You have no written proof, an email can be forged by anyone and is not admissible.
It’s extremely difficult to challange a beneficiary clause.
If he never “got around to changing” the paperwork, it’s going to be almost impossible to get it changed legally. Additionally, any changes made in the few weeks before he died, if he had made them, would be challengable, based on his “sound mental status” at the time (depending on how he died). Email accounts can be hacked – you might have a VERY hard time proving that someone else didn’t send that email from his account.
As he DIDN’T change the policy, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll win this.
And even if there was NO beneficiary named, a current spouse has greater claim than an adult child.