Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: Life Insurance Beneficiary

Proceeds from a life insurance policy are not considered "probate property", and therefore do not pass through the probate process. They are simply paid out to the beneficiary upon death.

You may want to create a trust to receive and manage the proceeds of the life insurance policy.

Please feel freel to contact me if you have any further questions, or if you would like to discuss the creation of an estate plan to address your concerns.

Re: Life Insurance Beneficiary

It will depend upon a variety of considerations.

The first consideration would be whether you have a will. If you do have a will, and you are making similar gifts in your will, you could have the life insurance payable to your estate. You can then direct who would administer or hold the funds on behalf of your son (as guardian, or as trustee, or as UTMA Custodian) (Frankly, anyone with a minor child should have a will. One of the issues is appointment of a guardian in the event that you and the mother are no longer alive. Also, one frequently names the mother as guardian.)

If the insurance is payable directly to your son, the insurance company will likely hold it on account for him until he attains 18, or a legal guardian is appointed. There are a variety of other possibilities, including a trust, each with different up front costs, and different control aspects.

If you would like to do any planning, please contact me. You can certainly name your son and his mother, on a percentage basis now, and change the beneficiary designations after you have a will or after you have completed more planning. (You can't designate a trust as beneficiary until the trust is in existence.)

Re: Life Insurance Beneficiary

If you designate the money to go to a minor, the funds will be given to his mother on his behalf to use for his health care and maintenance.

If you are concerned that the mother will spend all the money, set-up a trust with either a bank as Trustee if the amount is large enough or with someone you trust to handle the funds on your childs behalf. I would probably create a trust anyway so that even if you trust the mother you can control it a bit better by using the trust.

Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions.

Re: Life Insurance Beneficiary

The short answer is "yes" you can name a minor as a life insurance beneficiary. Generally, the insurance co. will pay the other parent, to use the funds for the support of the child.

The larger question is what will happen with your other assets. Someone in your position should really consider estate planning. It sounds as if you and your son's mother are still together. If that is the case, you would probaby want her to share in your assets if you were to die before she does. You would probably also want her to be named guardian of your son, and to have authority to control your assets for his benefit. If you and she are not together, your assets would be put in her control, with no guidance as to how to use the funds. Either way, you need somethng in place.

I would be happy to assist you with estate planning.