Someone had a life insurance through his work. He named a beneficiary who subsequently died. The policy wasn’t changed. So who is in line for the policy? The insureds family or the named beneficiaries family?
If A Beneficiary Dies Before The Insured, Who Collects? The Insured Family Or Beneficiaries?
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If no contingent beneficiary is named on the policy, then it will default to the estate of the insured person and then the monies will have to go through the probate process through courts and a judge will decide how they shall be distributed.
Changes to a beneficiary can be made during the life of the policy by the policyowner. If the policy is set up under a group term program, then the insured may need to contact the employer (i.e. HR dept) to make changes.
If you need help with your individual life insurance program, please feel free to contact me.
Changing one's beneficiary is a very simple process, usually just filling out a simple request form, and can be done as often as one might wish. You did well to recognize the issue, and react quickly to it. I see often when the named beneficiary was a relative or ex that was never changed when they passed or were divorced, and the mess that the oversight creates is always an extra grief that isn't needed. If you need help, or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, okay? Thank you for asking!
I can give a blanket answer and say what happens if there is no contingent beneficiary because different companies have different ways of doing business but I know this - MAKE SURE that you have a primary and contingent person named now....don't put this off
Here's an example of turmoil this can create. Let's say the Insured wants to leave money to his beloved biological child, who is living with his irresponsible ex-wife who his current wife detests. He names his brother as beneficiary so his child will be sure to get the money. Brother dies. Policy stays the same. Insured person dies. Money goes to Daddy's estate and biological child gets nothing.
All it takes to avoid this is to name a contingent beneficiary when the policy is taken out, or simply name a new beneficiary if the current beneficiary passes.