Death Benefit/ Life Insurance

[ange33]

My father-in-law died a couple of weeks ago. We found out the hard way that the beneficiary of the 10K death benefit is his ex-wife, whom he divorced back in 1974. We got a copy of the divorce papers that say when my husband turns 23 (he is now 38), the life insurance will roll over to him. The death benefit is a veterans benefit, therefore they say that divorce is a state mandate, and since they are a federal insurance they do not abide by state mandates. My husband cannot collect on the insurance, and we stand to lose thousands of dollars of funeral expenses we do not have the money to pay. Now, the ex-wife has not been in touch with my husband in over 20 years. We do not know where she is, nor does my husband care to ever speak to her. Do we have any chance of getting the money?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I am unsure as to the terms of the policy and perhaps there might be provisions stating that the amounts in the policy should first cover the expenses of the estate, e.g. funeral provisions. If your father in law was in the military, I'm wondering whether he has some benefits with regard to his funeral.