Legal Question in Insurance Law in California

Re: life insurance beneficiary

You should contact an insurance coverage attorney who represents insureds, not insurers. Get copies of the policy and payment records for all of the time you were together, along with copies of the will of both you and of your husband (if any) and any other estate planning materials you or he had. If it was bought through work, all of that paperwork concerning the policy, and applications, should also be looked at.

Re: life insurance beneficiary

Let me begin by offering my condolensces for your tragic loss.

You haven't provided all the facts I would like to have and the question probably belongs in a different category, but here is the best answer I can give you.

Ordinarily, when two people in California get married, they form a "marital community". Everything they acquire later becomes community property, and everything they owned previously remains their separate property. The analysis gets dicey where an asset was paid for over time, beginning before the wedding and continuing after. There are also rules governing what portion of an estate a surviving spouse is entitled to keep despite the likely wishes of the deceased spouse to distribute the estate differently.

You posted this question under the "Insurance Law" heading, which is probably where most people would have put it. The analysis actually involves family law more than it does insurance law, and I am not sufficiently expert in that area to analyze the nuances of your situation. I suggest that you re-post the question in the family law category. Your re-posted question should explain who was paying the premiums, how long the policy was in effect, and whether any premiums were paid during your marriage.

Good luck.