Legal Question in Insurance Law in Georgia

My son's father died in December 2013. His mother contacted me the other day saying that his life insurance policy was incomplete and he didnt have a beneficiary on his policy. I called the life insurance company and they said that everything would be set up in a trust account for my son until he is the age of 18. They told me i could go to court but i would end up paying lots of money out of pocket to get the funds where i could handle them now. I only want to handle the funds because his funeral is not paid off and i would like to use some of them to pay it off for his mother. I asked the life insurance company if they could pay the amount off before the monies are put into a trust account and they said that they could cut a check for 500.00 and mail to the person in charge of the funeral. The outstanding amount for the funeral is till well over 5000.00. What do I need to do? We are in the State of North Carolina.


Asked on 3/07/14, 5:09 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

The insurance money is for your son, not for funeral expenses. Those are the responsibility of the estate. The executor for the father's estate has to pay the funeral bills. If you want to be a good samaritan, then you can pay the funeral bill out of your money, not your son's money.

If the insurance funds are over $1500, then the insurer is correct that you would have to be appointed as the guardian and bonded. Otherwise, the funds are held by the court. I am unclear how the insurer can "set up a trust" and hold the funds until the child is 18.

I suggest that you have the insurance papers reviewed by an attorney and determine how much the funds are and whether becoming a guardian will justify the cost. Otherwise, the funds can sit and earn interest and will be there for your child when he turns 18.

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Answered on 3/08/14, 11:20 pm


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