Today's post is from Peter J. Nathan
So your Florida divorce is final. You spent hours establishing a Parenting Plan and settlement agreement. The kids will spend the majority of time with you in the former marital home. There wasn't too much to divide since the home is upside down and it'd be crazy to sell now and both 401(k)s have dropped like lead balloons.
So one night months or years later, your ex is out cruising and cruises himself into a major accident. He's tragically killed. But you're not too worried about the kids because the divorce required him to have life insurance just in case this happened.
When you contact the company, you find out that they can't tell you anything because you're not the policy owner. Frankly, it's probably better that you didn't hear over the phone that he changed the beneficiary to his new fiance when they bought that house together.
Is this legal? By law, the policy owner is the one who has control of the policy and the only one that can make changes. If your settlement agreement doesn't specify that the parent receiving child support is the policy owner of the other spouse's insurance, this could happen to you. Don't let this happen to you. Contact Peter J. Nathan to ensure you understand the in's and out's of life insurance.
