Life Insurance with Skids as beneficiaries as specified in CO
So I had to pull out DH's custody agreement to see who got the kids for the summer holidays this year and I took a closer look at what was on there for life insurance.
It says 'both parents will keep a $75,000 policy with skids as beneficiaries for the entire life of the parent'
Maybe I am sounding like a wicked step mother but WTF?!? That's bullshit! Once those kids are out of the nest then they are on their own! Life insurance should go to the surviving spouse and any minor children left at home.
My parent's don't have policies with us kids as the beneficiaries!? It's different when both parents are gone then it trickles down to the kid but when DH dies that policy is to help make up for his loss of income and to pay for college for our DS. My DH is 53 and our son is about to turn 4.
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That does sound crazy. Do you
That does sound crazy. Do you think BM has a policy? Or is she in violation of it? I wonder what would happen if your husband died without a policy for the kids, could they sue his estate?
I highly doubt this could be
I highly doubt this could be enforced once the rest of the CO is null and void (i.e., once CS is over and the skids are aged out).
I agree. It may not be stated
I agree. It may not be stated real clear. It should of stated for the time period of CO.
I agree, sounds like it was
I agree, sounds like it was written poorly, should not be till for kids entire life, and a quick change would be easy to clarify.
They are 12 and 13. I had
They are 12 and 13. I had always assumed it was until they aged out. But I happened to see it this morning and it says 'for the life of BM/DH'. Right now I have a $150,000 policy on him with Skids as 50% beneficiaries and me as the other 50%. I had intended to switch it to me as 100% beneficiaries when they aged out.
Think I am going to take another look at everything including my own policies. I may set up a trust for mine to go into as I don't intend for any of my life insurance money to go to the skids. If I didn't have my own BS then I wouldn't really care what happened after I was dead but I want to make sure my money doesn't trickle down to them.
At some point I may be getting an attorney anyway as the CO also states that DH will be paying half of college for each Skid. The dude makes $35K a year... more than half of his pay will go to their college. I'm not paying for their college... I have my own retirement and college for my BS to put away for. BS won't be getting a full ride to college from us... why should the skids?
It's $150,000 on 1 policy.
It's $150,000 on 1 policy. 25% to each skid and 50% to me.
The wording is "Mother and Father shall each maintain a $75,000 life insurance policy on themselves naming both children as beneficiaries for the duration of Mother and Father's lives"
We took his existing $150,000 policy and changed it so $75,000 going to them would take care of the requirement? Maybe I should get just a new $75,000 policy just for them and then put the $150,000 just with me as beneficiary. Before we were married he had the kids as full beneficiary.
I will change my policy to put BS as the beneficiary! Thanks for the tip... right now I have DH as 100% and then my brother as the secondary in case something happened to both of us at the same time. My brother and his wife are to take in our BS if something happends to us.
My DH had that in his CO,
My DH had that in his CO, until the age of majority (which was last year). I willingly signed the form to have a percentage of DH's life insurance policy (like 10%) go to each SK (2 of them.)
As far as covering them before that to cover CS? I've always been curious about that, because if a parent of a minor child dies, the child is entitled to 75% of deceased parents' income as social security death benefit (paid out monthly until they are 18 or graduate high school, whichever comes last). So, I have to wonder why that is put in so many CO's?
Trust me the amount that is
Trust me the amount that is received for SSI for survivor benefits of the child is a dent in what a child needs. My son got the max for years and it was 1200 a month. When it started it was 800 and with increases it maxed at 1288 a month.
Life Insurance is needed to supplement that and very much needed. My son was 6 when his dad died and now at 20, he is still costing me a fortune.
I have 2 kids, both of them
I have 2 kids, both of them were receiving SSI survivor benefits so in actuality my kids were getting paid more than what my first DH made because they each received 75%. Honestly, they receive more in SSI than most custodial parents receive in CS per month.
He had a life insurance policy, but after medical bills, funeral costs, etc that got whittled down (when he initially started working for the company at 30, he didn't think he needed a half-million dollar life insurance policy... not knowing that in 2 short years he' be diagnosed with a terminal cancer).
I just keep thinking in the back of my mind all the crazy stuff court orders can "order" for divorced parents, that intact families don't have to do -- CS until 21? College tuition? Forced $X life insurance policies?
Yes....totally this. It
Yes....totally this. It infuriates me how getting divorced can leave people more at the mercy and under the control of the ex spouse than when they were married.
My ODS also gets survivors benefits and it's more than CS was by a Longshot.
The reason life insurance goes to the spouse is because that's who is on the hook for things financially.
That's crazy. Is that
That's crazy. Is that something your DH and his ex negotiated, or is that in your state's standard form? Our state's standard form provides for life insurance, but it doesn't go for the duration of the parents' lives: "Each party shall keep in full force and pay the premiums on all life insurance presently held upon their life, naming the minor children of the parties as sole primary beneficiaries in equal shares, until the youngest of the minor children reaches age of 18 or age 19 if they are pursuing a high school diploma or its equivalent. If current coverage is lost, the party with the current life insurance policies shall provide equivalent coverage. Each party agrees to furnish the other with proof of the named sole primary beneficiary upon request." My DH didn't have life insurance at the time of the divorce, so he's not obligated to carry any. Unless the provision in your DH's order was something your DH and his ex specifically wanted, I'm surprised the lawyers didn't recommend that the policy requirement end when the kids were no longer minors (or no longer in school).