Life Insurance Lawyer Serving South Dakota to Support You

The statute of limitations to dispute life insurance claim denials is 60 days if the policy was an employer-sponsored group life insurance policy. 

For all other life insurance, there is no time limit, however, the sooner you dispute a denied life insurance claim the better because we will have a better chance of collecting evidence that your claim should pay.

It is possible to still get a payout from a lapsed policy if the lapse was not the fault of the policyholder. 

For example, if the life insurance company failed to send the policyholder the legally-required notices of lapse, you may still get paid. If the policyholder was eligible for disability waiver of premium and did not get it, you may still get paid. If an employer failed to give the policyholder conversion papers or improperly administered the policy, you may still get paid.

Only the policyholder can change their beneficiary designation. If the beneficiary designation was changed by someone else, that is fraud. Contact our life insurance lawyers immediately.

If the primary beneficiary dies before the policyholder and the policyholder fails to update their beneficiary designation accordingly, the life insurance company will pay the death benefit to the secondary beneficiary or the contingent beneficiary. 

If the policyholder did not designate secondary or contingent beneficiaries, the death benefit can pay out to the policyholder’s estate. Unfortunately, this makes insurance proceeds subject to the policyholder’s creditors. A policyholder can avoid this by making sure their beneficiary designation is up-to-date and that they designate secondary or contingent beneficiaries in addition to the primary beneficiary.

Just like when the beneficiary has predeceased the policyholder and there are no contingent or secondary beneficiaries, the life insurance company will pay out to the policyholder’s estate.

First, know that a policyholder can change their beneficiary designation at any time as long as they are of sound mind. However, you can and should contest a beneficiary designation change if it happened just before the death of the policyholder and if you suspect the change was fraudulent or under duress. This type of case is very difficult to prove, so be sure to contact an experienced life insurance beneficiary attorney for help.

Never. A beneficiary change after the date of the policyholder’s death is fraudulent. Contact an experienced life insurance beneficiary attorney immediately.

If a spouse or ex-spouse was the irrevocable beneficiary or should have been designated the beneficiary pursuant to court order, they should contest the beneficiary designation.

Yes! There is no law preventing you from sharing the life insurance death benefits with whomever you wish. It is common for a policyholder to name one child as a beneficiary and for that child to share with siblings.