- Mistakes on the beneficiary change forms;
- Misspelling of a beneficiary’s name or other errors in personal information;
- Beneficiary change forms not witnessed or notarized;
- Beneficiary change forms not sent to the correct address;
- Beneficiary change forms not received by the life insurance company before the insured’s death.
Our Life Insurance Attorneys Represent You in the Interpleader
An “interpleader” is a legal action that is initiated by the life insurance company when the new beneficiary and the removed beneficiary file a claim for the same death benefits, and the removed beneficiary challenges the change in designation.
The purpose of an interpleader is to determine who is the rightful beneficiary, and that is why an interpleader is commonly called a “life insurance beneficiary dispute.”
Both the new beneficiary and the removed beneficiary should have experienced life insurance beneficiaries representing them in the interpleader. The law is nuanced, and it can be difficult to prove that the insured did not have the requisite competence to change beneficiaries or that the insured was under duress or threatened or coerced to make the change.
Revocable vs. Irrevocable Life Insurance Beneficiaries
Most policyholders have a “revocable” beneficiary designation, which means they have the power to change their beneficiary designation at will and at any time. The only policyholders who are unable to change their beneficiary designation are those under a court order or an “irrevocable” beneficiary designation.
For example, as part of the property settlement agreement between divorcing parties, a family law judge might order that the support obligor maintain life insurance and name the support obligees as beneficiaries in order to guarantee that income stream. In some cases, the judge will order that the insured designate the support obligees as “irrevocable beneficiaries,” meaning that the obligor cannot “revoke” or change the beneficiary designation.
If the insured changed beneficiaries at the last minute and one of these circumstances applies, our life insurance lawyers can likely have that designation overturned.
Contact Our Life Insurance Attorneys Today for Your Free Consultation Regarding the Last-Minute Beneficiary Change
Are you considering contesting a life insurance beneficiary designation? Are you defending in a beneficiary dispute?
Our life insurance beneficiary lawyers have helped clients across the nation recover millions of dollars in death benefits to date. Let us help you. Whether you are the removed beneficiary or the new beneficiary, we will fight vigorously for your right to the death benefits. Contact us today.