This article discusses a situation involving a life insurance policy. A divorce decree from a man’s previous marriage stated that his children from that marriage would be the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy. The actual policy itself though has the current spouse listed as the only beneficiary. Could the current spouse deprive her step-children from being able to benefit from the life insurance policy? Even if there was no will the divorce decree would still matter. This financial advice column explains the reason why the current spouse would probably lose in an attempt to deprive her step-children of their inheritance. These kinds of cases involving step-parents and step-children are very common. It is important to make sure that estate planning documents are carefully put together to make sure that the beneficiaries are properly designated.
See Quentin Fottrel, Can I leave my stepchildren nothing if my husband dies?, Market Watch, January 11, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
