It is common practice for spouses to take out life insurance policies and to then name their partner the beneficiary of the policy. As the majority of marriages now end in divorce, many states had to answer the question of whether the named spouse-beneficiary would still receive the insurance benefits upon the death of the spouse that took out the policy. Some states, Florida for example, answered the question with a hard statutory “no”. This simple answer is coming under fire from Constitutional attack as opponents to such statutes claim that it violates individuals’ freedom to contract. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition in Sveen v. Melin regarding this exact issue.
See Donna L. Eng and Scott Konopka, Is F.S. §732.703 Susceptible to a Constitutional Challenge by a Former Spouse Whose Claim for Benefits is Denied?, The Florida Bar Journal, August 7, 2017.
Special thanks to Paul M. Cathcart, Jr. for bringing this article to my attention.
