Resolved Question

Life insurance - help!!!?

my nan passed away a couple of weeks ago of cancer, her life insurance will pay out to cover her funeral costs and should go to my mum who has been her sole carer for 5 years but before they will release funds they are asking for my grandads Signature, although they are not divorced they are separated and not on good terms. is there anyway around this? she did not want him to know she was poorly let alone that she has now passed away. please help!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

If they are asking for a signature from your grandfather, that likely means he is listed as the beneficiary. The beneficiary has first dibs on the money and that is undisputable. Even a Will can't turn that over. It's been tried before and it's never been successfully challenged and overturned.

Next of kin means nothing if there is a beneficiary listed. The beneficiary gets it, done deal.

If no beneficiary is listed it will go to the estate and the money will be distrubuted as detailed in the Will. The key in this case is that Will's are public record AND contestable in court. If this is the case with you, where no beneficiary has been listed, you can challenge the Will in court and plead your case that your mother should be getting the money.

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Other Answers (4)

• I'm assuming you're in the UK. If she left a will, the money would go to her executor. If she didn't your Mum could apply to the Probate Office for letters of administration and she could collect the money as administrator. Where's there's not much money involved, an insurance company will usually pay out to the next of kin without the need to go to probate. Unfortunately, her next of kin is your Granddad, and without probate, the money goes to him to do what he likes with it. You will need to contact him to see if he will agree to the money being used for funeral expenses. If you don't, he could sue you for delaying his money by not telling him your Nan has died.
• Strictly speaking, the money should go to your grandad as next of kin. Your mother is not entitled to it simply because she was the carer. You say your nan and grandad were not on good terms, but presumably you and your mum get on alright with him. Even if not, my advice would be that either you or your mum speak to your grandad to see if he will agree to your request. I can see no other way around it because it's definitely his money.
• http://lifeinsuranceestimate.info/ has a lot of information on various life insurance providers and has a short form you can fill out if you want and it will give you several different quotes of different companies.

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• It does help provided you do not allow it to lapse. In your particular case, you should seek legal advice. A trip to Citizens Advice Bureau may sor the matter out.

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