Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: Life Insurance beneficiaries vs. terms of will

First of all, I'm sorry for the loss of your brother.

My office represents executors like you in the performance of their duties.

Probating a will takes up to a year, and sometimes more. You will need to file an inventory, accounting, and make sure that the will is probated properly. All of this takes some amount of expertise.

Please feel free to contact me. My hourly rate is reasonable, and is billed as an expense of the estate. I can be as involved as you need me to be as you perform your duties as executor.

Re: Life Insurance beneficiaries vs. terms of will

Massachusetts law is very, very clear: unless the decedent can be shown to have been incapacitated or unduly influenced, life insurance proceeds pass to whomever the decedent named as a beneficiary.

Even if the decedent intended to name his estate as the beneficiary, the court will not make the change. The appeals court has recently addressed this issue when a spouse remarried and made a will naming the new wife as heir of the probate property, but forgot to remove the ex-spouse as beneficiary of the life insurance policy. The court ruled that Wife #2 was out of luck. The second spouse is out of luck, since a will only controls property passing through probate.

You and your sister need to decide what you each want to do with the windfall. Hopefully, you'll both decide to act the way you know your brother intended and share the proceeds.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.

Re: Life Insurance beneficiaries vs. terms of will

Unless there are exceptional circumstances such as undue influence or incapacity, the life insurance policy controls the disposition of the estate.

Re: Life Insurance beneficiaries vs. terms of will

As Atty. Golden indicated, legally, the terms of the insurance policy govern who will receive the proceeds from the insurance company. You and your sister need to come to terms with how your brother would want things distributed. However, you should consult with an attorney because there could be significant issues which would affect your decision-making, including the possibility of creditor's claims, etcetera.

This is why it is important to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney in drafting a will - we always request a copy of the existing life insurance beneficiary provisions, to make sure that they are either consistent with the estate plan, or to urge the testator to change the beneficiary in an appropriate fashion.

In some cases, there are advantages to not naming the estate as a beneficiary, but the beneficiary designation would be modified appropriately to carry out the intent of the testator/owner of the insurance policy.

Please feel free to call my office if I can be of assistance.