If I make my son the beneficiary on my life insurance, can my husband also access the money if he survives me?
354248
Indeed, consult and attorney and tell him/her your wishes and your complete situation.  If your son (your desired beneficiary) is under 18 and you die, the court will not allow him to take custody of such a large amount of money.  They would appoint someone to oversee these funds (most likely your husband (son's father) but maybe not).\n\nIf you take action now while you are alive, then YOU make the decisions NOT a court.  You will be able to change these decisions later such as when your son turns 18 or finishes college.
889975
the thing is as a Life Agent they insurance companies that I work for would want to know why you are covering your children for $500,000.00 now you could pull a policy on yourself with no issue and that $11,000.00 you are looking at paying would be better for you you would be paying way over the needed amount to cover your children with compounded interest and everything if you are looking at pulling this type of policy I would love to help you with it I do not work for NY life but would be able to give you pointers as well as maybe show you a few other companies depending on the state that you live in that would maybe be better back to covering the children I know that all the companies I work for would wonder why you would insure your child for more then $200,000.00 without good reason IM me and I will see what I can do my IM is rahnside\nA Life Insurance Specialist\nRahn Sidebotham II
888261
100% will still go to the wife. You can't designate to have someone who isn't yet living in this world to be beneficiary. Last time I checked, a person of the cloth did not dictate a will either. It must be in writing and signed.
107434
Life insurance contracts pass outside of probate (the only time there's a connection is if the estate is the beneficiary). I can't imagine how the executor can interfere with the terms of the insurance contract; The terms of a will cannot change the terms of an outside contract; after all, the contract has parties to it that have not consented to a change (ie, insurance company). Normally, life insurance contracts provide that a change of beneficiaries can be affected by the owner only by notification to the company during the owner's life. So, a will cannot change the  beneficiary designation unless the terms of the contract allow this.
62413
i do taxes so i can answer this. if your husband said you could then you can. if he elected for you not to than you cant. you see. when you set up your pension you have a choice to either allow your spouse to draw all, half, or none of your pension when you die.
1171070
NO!  It couldn't happen.  The one (savings account) has no bearing on the other (life insurance).\n\nIf you have ANY doubts pick up the phone and ask the insurance agent.\n\nHope this helps,\n\nJim
268946
While he is still alive, can't without his permission.  Any information involving insurance between the insurance company and your Dad is confidential.  If you are trying to make plans for when he passes away I would either speak to him about it or talk to whoever is going to be the executor of his estate.
771327
It depends on a number of factors.  If your husband purchased the property prior to your marriage and no "communal" funds have been used for it's upkeep or maintenance than you have no right to the property via your marriage.\n\nIs your husband mentally competent ?  The POA (depending on it's wording) can give the son a broad array of rights regarding the property up to and including the right to sell or encumber.  I ask about his competency because it is one of the ways to challenge the authority given by a POA.\n\nIf your husband intends for you to have any benefit from the property than he should spell those rights out in a Last Will & Testament and seperately in a marital agreement as to the division of assets.
281518
He can but it will not do him any good, the owner of the policy has the say on to who the beneficiary will be, not any one else unless in some cases of divorce there is a court order stating who the beneficiary must be. its the same if a business takes out a policy on an employee, the business owns the policy thus giving then the right to name the beneficiary, unless there is a court order the owner can do what ever they want.
452516
The general rule is that a spouse is entitled to his elective share.  If there is no will, the spouse is entitled to whatever that state says spouses get (usually at least a third if there are children; in some states 100% even with children).  The quality of the marriage is NOT an issue and is irrelevant.  If the woman didn't want him to inherit from her, she could have gotten divorced.\n\nAn insurance policy is paid to the beneficiary.  It is not a probate asset.  The spouse cannot usually claim it.  There may be some circumstances (where, for example, the wife was mandated to elect the spouse but didn't) where he might be able to claim the proceeds of insurance.\n\nIf back child support based on a child support order or agreement is due, the estate of the decedent may be able to sue the husband for it.  In some cases the children might be able to proceed directly.  States may have statutes of limitation that cut off one's ability to claim child support beyond a certain point - five years is probably a good average.\n\nIt sounds like the children need to consult a good estates attorney in their area.  Go to the website for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and find a Certified Elder Law Attorney in your area.  http://www.naela.com/Applications/ConsumerDirectory/index.cfm
1007910
Unless he steps in to pay them for you he does run some risk in losing it.  At the very least, any mortgages must be kept current and the property taxes must be paid.\n\nYou might consider deeding it over to him now, with an agreement that you will pay all bills while you are able do do so, and can live there for the rest of your natural life.  You might need to structure it so that you pay "rent" equal to the mortgage and tax payments.  That way if you should become destitiute, any creditors won't be able to attach the house, again as long as the mortgage and taxes are paid.\n\nConsult with an estate planning attorney for guidance on what options you may have.  There are complex rules that come in to play with medicaid should you become seriously ill and not be able to pay the medical bills.  An attorney is aware of these and can structure a solution for you that will protect your estate and your son's investment in the property.
977422
3 ways:\n\n1) You can try to find his life policy in the place where he lives\n2) It is highly unlikely that you are the named beneficiary since most insurance companies don't allow "friends" to be a beneficiary. It is usually relative or a family member that is the beneficiary. So, its not worth looking into it.\n3) If you know what life insurance company he got his policy from, call them up.
406930
Ultimately your son is responsible. I he does not have the financial means to fix the damages then you as his parent are responsible. If you don't feel that to be the case then think of it this way. You deposit money into a savings account thereby giving them permission to use it for loans, if the bank get robbed of all their funds are they responsible to you?
1099679
By law, anyone named as the beneficiary in the policy has the right to all life proceeds. If the mother been collecting the proceeds for the child, the mother must give it up. If mother refuse, the child must take this issue to court.
601363
In many life insurance companies, no one is covered if the owner of the policy commit suicide. Some companies have a suicide clause where you are covered for a certain amount of time when you commit suicide. For a beneficiary to claim life insurance proceeds, a proof of death is required.\n\nRemember, if you are choosing term, you want to choose the maximum length available like 30 years. And also, you want to invest in mutual funds at the same time (you should put away $100/month into it if you understand the Dollar Cost Averaging concept).
139827
Wow, some really dangerous opinions in here!\n\nLife insurance proceeds are there to provide protection for your dependents in three basic areas:\n\n1) Funds made available to pay final costs (burial, medical bills, etc.) and debts (mortgage, credit cards. etc)\n\n2) Funds to make up the difference between the household income before your death and what it would be following your death.\n\n3) Funds to invest to meet the savings goals you would have been saving for had you not died. (Think children's education)\n\nNot everyone has needs in all three areas and like Lady Death alludes to in her answer, you can accumulate assets to offset these needs. This is referred to as Self-Insuring. In an ideal world, we would all quickly accumulate wealth sufficient to fully protect our families while not accumulating enough wealth to fall afoul of estate taxes. In reality this is not always the case, hence the continued need for life insurance.\n\nWhen you first apply for a policy, you go through an intense process called underwriting. This is when the insurance companies underwriters tak a very indepth look at you health (through blood and urine tests, questioning you, questioning your doctors and requesting information on you from the Medical Information Bureau [Think of the MIB as a Credit Bureau that tracks your health]) and your financial situation to determine IF you are insurable and how much your premiums are going to be.\n\nWhen people say you should only buy term insurance, be skeptical. It is a very unobjective thing to say when they know NOTHING of your situation. Term insurance is an easier sale and some salespeople follow the path of least resistance rather than providing the best objective advice to their clients. Buy Term and Invest the Difference- this assumes that you have the discipline to invest the difference rather than spend it, that you accumulate enough assets to self insure before the term period runs out, and that you don't accumulate too much with respect to estate taxes. Otherwose, you find yourself in the unenviable situation of having to go through underwriting again to put another term policy in force, with premiums based on your then current age, of course. This is particularly bad if your health has deteriorated in some way, jeapoardizing your ability to get coverage. Some may say you could convert the policy to permanent insurance at that point but that negates the tenents of the startegy and why put a permanent policy in place then, having given up all those years when you could have been funding it?!?\n\nMy best advice is to consult a financial planner (AVOID anyone who tells you what type of insurance to get without asking any questions of you and run away from anyone who uses a "multiple of salary" approach to determining your need) and have a survivorship analysis completed. Your planner will educate you on the different types of insurance and develop an insurance portfolio to meet your individual situation. It may be that term insurance is the right thing for you right now; maybe not. For anyone to say it is without the facts is not very intelligent nor prudent.\nGood Luck.
664322
A couple of things.  You dont need multiple policies, one will do.  The policies allow you to designate beneficiaries, and also you are able to designate percentages to each.\n\nIf you want to control how the money is used, have a trust setup so that if you died, the insurance proceeds would go to the trust and the trust would distribute proceeds according to your pre-established desire. You pick who you want to be the trustee of the money...someone you trust would spend money according to your wishes..it could be a friend, family member, or outside independent source.\n\nThat would keep the money out of everyone's hands.