Health and life insurance question, anyone seen this first hand

[here757]

lawyer ... no. i assumed when i put house, money etc that it would be clear... i
in va a child can not attempt take ownership of a home if one of the two owners are still alive.... now if say the mother survives and choses to give it she can..

Are you a lawyer in VA? I don't think this makes sense. You don't need to probate the will if all is going to the spouse, but this does not mean the will is not read as there could be recipients other than the spouse and there could be a need to probate. I don't think there is any state that would legally allow a spouse to not read and thus ignore the will of their spouse.

 

[dawnball]

in our state... "VA" the will is only read if both husband and wife has passed. if one goes before the other.. then survivor gets all.. (house, money etc)

Ah. No. That's not really how it works. In VA, if there is a will and real estate that isn't going to the spouse, the will should be probated at their death. The will should also be probated if everything doesn't automatically pass CORRECTLY via survivorship (so joint accounts, real estate that's jointly titled with survivorship, which is optional in va, retirement accounts/life insurance via declared beneficiaries, etc.) If the survivorship outcomes don't produce the effect of the will, you have to probate, even with a living spouse.

You can't overrule someone's ability to distribute their assets just because they died first. It probably is common for the will to say "If i die before my wife, just give it all to her. Otherwise, do it this way", and in that case, you don't need to probate and your premise works.

i own a business. and written into my contract i can sue the estate of XXXX for balances due and so forth..

i can not expect an insurance company to pay the account. but the survivor.. doesnt matter where they get the money.. (luckily i have never been there or done that)

Unless that account balance is significant, I suggest including a clause that says the estate will pay your legal fees, too. You'll need an estate lawyer just to figure out who to sue.

 

[danceintherain]

I'm really sorry to hear about your husband Eliza. My best thoughts definitely go out to you and your family.

I won't agree with your "never" however. I have seen clients who obtained life insurance mainly to protect kids and house. Twenty years later the kids are grown and the house is either paid off or mostly paid off and the protection need just isn't there anymore. And in many cases the life insurance benefit pays for vital medical care.

Settlements of debt can vary from state to state. There are situations where a wife becomes responsible for debt acquired by the husband prior to death. In that case it is not so much that the life insurance is taken to pay the medical debt, it is that the wife is responsible for the bill payment and must use the insurance proceeds to pay the bills.

In a Community Property state a spouse doesn't have to sign or agree in order to be held liable for a spouse's debt incurred during the marriage.

depends on the state law..

It's possible that they could be responsible, and thus negate any life insurance policy, or they could walk away.
It's going to depend on individual state law.
If this is truly an issue for someone, I suggest they contact a lawyer in their state.

 

[robsmom]

lawyer ... no. i assumed when i put house, money etc that it would be clear... i
in va a child can not attempt take ownership of a home if one of the two owners are still alive.... now if say the mother survives and choses to give it she can..

Of course, no state would let a child take ownership of something that is "owned" by a living parent. I don't see where I might of suggested otherwise. But not all houses are owned jointly with a spouse and not all money is in joint accounts. There are many cases of marriages where one spouse brings a house, money, whatever into the marriage and has a will to leave that house or money to someone other than their spouse.

 

[PatsMom]

I am not sure about a debt owed to the hospital but I do know that if the deceased was eligible for Medicaid and dies with a life insurance benefit, the benefit is part of the medicaid recovery process. You have to disclose all policies when you sign up. Cash value policies above a certain amount do need to be surrendered to "spend down" for medicaid purposes.

 

[eliza61]

I am not sure about a debt owed to the hospital but I do know that if the deceased was eligible for Medicaid and dies with a life insurance benefit, the benefit is part of the medicaid recovery process. You have to disclose all policies when you sign up. Cash value policies above a certain amount do need to be surrendered to "spend down" for medicaid purposes.

Oops wrong thread click.

 

[kirstenb1]

Ouch. Never, ever, (can't put in enough never's ) do this. Life insurance is just that, insurance when there is loss of life. If there is a beneficiery such as a spouse, legally there is nothing the hospital can do to take that money.

I really try to be a responsible person and it would take a lot for me to say "don't" pay off a debt I occured but I am recently a widow, my wonderful dh of 25 years lost his battle with luekemia. Because he was a wonderful man his life insurance will allow me to continue to live the life we planned on. My children will finish college and I will be financially secure for the rest of my life. Would I trade it all back in a nanosecond for 1 more day with my boo. YES!! but now that I am the sole responsible parent for my kids sorry I would never ever use my life insurance to pay any bill.

Eliza, I'm so sorry.