Beneficiaries Mad Because Oxford Says They Can't Send Death Benefit to them

[yogooglethis]

O.K they are not technically beneficiaries but would have been if they followed my instructions as well as the instructions on the change of beneficiary letter/package Oxford sent to them and mailed the notarized change of beneficiary form to Oxford after their father the beneficiary listed on this policy died 2 years ago. I have copy of the change of beneficiary request letter that Oxford mailed to them.They acknowledge receiving it and insisted they sent it back but it turns out the only thing they sent to oxford was a notarized notice of POA .

The insured and owner of policy was their mother and there was no contingent requested on the application. At first I was told by policy services at Oxford that claim could still be paid directly to both sons because they had POA on mother or it could be paid just to the son who is also the executor of estate. I found out from another policy service rep at Oxford that this information is wrong after I had already passed this information along to sons - so their not to happy about that.

So for a 10k claim they may have pay a fee to file a "summary of admin form" or "small estate affidavit " to the probate court to collect claim. According to a lady I talked on the phone with the county probate court they will probably need an attorney to help them since the estate was left to more than 1 person it and it can get complicated. Any suggestions? Do I have anything to worry about if they contact the DOI ?


These people are mad at me and even brought up the DOI but I told them I would help them anyway I could but i certainly can't advise them on probate law

 

[WinoBlues]

O.K they are not technically beneficiaries but would have been if they followed my instructions as well as the instructions on the change of beneficiary letter/package Oxford sent to them and mailed the notarized change of beneficiary form to Oxford after their father the beneficiary listed on this policy died 2 years ago. I have copy of the change of beneficiary request letter that Oxford mailed to them.They acknowledge receiving it and insisted they sent it back but it turns out the only thing they sent to oxford was a notarized notice of POA .

The insured and owner of policy was their mother and there was no contingent requested on the application. At first I was told by policy services at Oxford that claim could still be paid directly to both sons because they had POA on mother or it could be paid just to the son who is also the executor of estate. I found out from another policy service rep at Oxford that this information is wrong after I had already passed this information along to sons - so their not to happy about that.

So for a 10k claim they may have pay a fee to file a "summary of admin form" or "small estate affidavit " to the probate court to collect claim. According to a lady I talked on the phone with the county probate court they will probably need an attorney to help them since the estate was left to more than 1 person it and it can get complicated. Any suggestions? Do I have anything to worry about if they contact the DOI ?


These people are mad at me and even brought up the DOI but I told them I would help them anyway I could but i certainly can't advise them on probate law

Oxford is a pain in the azz on anything to do with service or claims. I would push it some. Last two I had like this (United Heritage) sent one to the executor the other case the siblings all wanted their own checks. I believe there may have been an affidavit as to who was still living. Both of these were paid in about a week.

 

[Newby]

If there's no living beneficiary named on the policy the death benefit has to run through the estate, be exposed to probate and be paid out in the way the will directs.

That's why you always want a contingent Benny if at all possible.

 

[yogooglethis]

If there's no living beneficiary named on the policy the death benefit has to run through the estate, be exposed to probate and be paid out in the way the will directs.

That's why you always want a contingent Benny if at all possible.

Does the fact that the intended beneficiaries had POA on the deceased and also by that time the deceased was deemed incompetent do to dementia make any difference?

Do you have any idea how long a small estate case with an uncontested will takes to go through the probate court.Does the 10k claim check still come from Oxford ?I understand each state is probably different but would like to provide a range of time to my clients

 

[LGilmore]

"Does the fact that the intended beneficiaries had POA on the deceased and also by that time the deceased was deemed incompetent do to dementia make any difference?"

NO. All that matters is what is on file at the time of death. That is what the insurance company must go by as if they do anything different they open themselves up to legal action. So what ever was there is what they will do. If there is nothing there (no living beneficiary) then, the proceeds become part of the estate.


I would not offer any time frame for any legal proceeding as there is no way to absolutely tell for sure.

 

[Newby]

Does the fact that the intended beneficiaries had POA on the deceased and also by that time the deceased was deemed incompetent do to dementia make any difference?

Do you have any idea how long a small estate case with an uncontested will takes to go through the probate court.Does the 10k claim check still come from Oxford ?I understand each state is probably different but would like to provide a range of time to my clients

They do NOT have POA on the deceased. There is no such thing. All POA's end upon death.

If they failed to change the beneficiary while he is alive, they have to live with what the beneficiary designation was at the time of death. Any policy with no living beneficiary will be a long drawn out process.

A lot of the benefit of having life insurance is wasted if the estate is the beneficiary. Probate, taxes and creditors are all in line before the beneficiaries of the estate get anything. And it can take 6-months to a year for anyone to get anything.

Needless to say, a policy with no living beneficiary is basically useless when taken to a funeral home. Nothing they can do with it.

 

[yogooglethis]

They do NOT have POA on the deceased. There is no such thing. All POA's end upon death.

If they failed to change the beneficiary while he is alive, they have to live with what the beneficiary designation was at the time of death. Any policy with no living beneficiary will be a long drawn out process.

A lot of the benefit of having life insurance is wasted if the estate is the beneficiary. Probate, taxes and creditors are all in line before the beneficiaries of the estate get anything. And it can take 6-months to a year for anyone to get anything.

Needless to say, a policy with no living beneficiary is basically useless when taken to a funeral home. Nothing they can do with it.

That makes it clear.These people are very upset and are looking for someone to blame for this miscommunication and have already mentioned contacting the DOI. Would you have any idea if I would have any exposure if their complaint is aimed at me as well as the insurance company for either :

A. Not insisting that a contingent beneficiary should be listed and explaining why even though the insured said she didn't want one.


B. Not being proactive and verifying with Oxford that the change of beneficiary had indeed been executed even though i was never asked by the new beneficiary to verify this. I just assumed it was because the new beneficiary told me that they mailed the completed forms back to Oxford shortly afterwards but it turns out they only sent back the notarized POA evidently thinking that would take of everything. I got a copy of the letter and change of beneficiary forms that I requested Oxford mail to them and I also have an email I sent to intended beneficiaries explaining the process and instructions to mail back the notarized forms directly to Oxford in the return envelope Oxford supplied.

 

[VolAgent]

That makes it clear.These people are very upset and are looking for someone to blame for this miscommunication and have already mentioned contacting the DOI. Would you have any idea if I would have any exposure if their complaint is aimed at me as well as the insurance company for either :

A. Not insisting that a contingent beneficiary should be listed and explaining why even though the insured said she didn't want one.


B. Not being proactive and verifying with Oxford that the change of beneficiary had indeed been executed even though i was never asked by the new beneficiary to verify this. I just assumed it was because the new beneficiary told me that they mailed the completed forms back to Oxford shortly afterwards but it turns out they only sent back the notarized POA evidently thinking that would take of everything. I got a copy of the letter and change of beneficiary forms that I requested Oxford mail to them and I also have an email I sent to intended beneficiaries explaining the process and instructions to mail back the notarized forms directly to Oxford in the return envelope Oxford supplied.

So what is their complaint? We failed to follow instructions?

Sure, they can complain, but basically it will all come down to they failed to follow instructions.

I suppose they could try to make hay out of no contingent beneficiary, but two problems with that. 1, a contingent beneficiary isn't required. The insured and owner signed the application without one being listed. 2, they requested a beneficiary change form at a later date. They simply failed to properly execute it.

Also, they did not send the change of beneficiary form to you, but the company. You never had a chance to review it. They tried to go around you, how can you help if they won't let you?

Sure, they can complaint to the DOI, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

I would tell them, I am glad to help you in anyway that I can. But if you wish to threaten me, we're done.

 

[Newby]

That makes it clear.These people are very upset and are looking for someone to blame for this miscommunication and have already mentioned contacting the DOI. Would you have any idea if I would have any exposure if their complaint is aimed at me as well as the insurance company for either :

A. Not insisting that a contingent beneficiary should be listed and explaining why even though the insured said she didn't want one.


B. Not being proactive and verifying with Oxford that the change of beneficiary had indeed been executed even though i was never asked by the new beneficiary to verify this. I just assumed it was because the new beneficiary told me that they mailed the completed forms back to Oxford shortly afterwards but it turns out they only sent back the notarized POA evidently thinking that would take of everything. I got a copy of the letter and change of beneficiary forms that I requested Oxford mail to them and I also have an email I sent to intended beneficiaries explaining the process and instructions to mail back the notarized forms directly to Oxford in the return envelope Oxford supplied.

Anything can happen but I wouldn't think you have too much to worry about.

 

[Mattschmidt]

That makes it clear.These people are very upset and are looking for someone to blame for this miscommunication and have already mentioned contacting the DOI. Would you have any idea if I would have any exposure if their complaint is aimed at me as well as the insurance company for either :

A. Not insisting that a contingent beneficiary should be listed and explaining why even though the insured said she didn't want one.


B. Not being proactive and verifying with Oxford that the change of beneficiary had indeed been executed even though i was never asked by the new beneficiary to verify this. I just assumed it was because the new beneficiary told me that they mailed the completed forms back to Oxford shortly afterwards but it turns out they only sent back the notarized POA evidently thinking that would take of everything. I got a copy of the letter and change of beneficiary forms that I requested Oxford mail to them and I also have an email I sent to intended beneficiaries explaining the process and instructions to mail back the notarized forms directly to Oxford in the return envelope Oxford supplied.

You'll be fine. Make sure you have lots of detailed notes from all the correspondence with these people.

I wouldn't worry too much