Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Hampshire

Insurance proceeds not part of PROBATE estate

but the proceeds (payout) are (is) part of the federal "taxable" estate anyway, unless some specific and unusual criteriahave been met -- the policy would, for example, have to have been OWNED already by you or by a life insurance trust and NOT owned or controlled byyour mother in order to escape inclusion into thefederal tax estate.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

Do you already have an attorney (licensed to practicein NH, preferably specializing in probate) to probate your mother's estate in NH? If not, please call me (thoughnoone using this service ever does!) or at least writeback to me and I can help you.

Are life insurance proceeds part of probate estate?

The answer depends on the insurance policy rules, but in most cases if persons are named as beneficiaries of a life insurance policy, those persons will receive the money directly from the life insurance company.

However, if the deceased persons's estate is named as beneficiary, the money will go to the estate first.

Life Insurance - Probate Estate

I don't know about New Hampshire, but in my state (N.C.), life insurance proceeds are not included in the probate estate, nor are they subject to the claims of estate creditors. However, they ARE subject to U.S. and State estate taxes, which are entirely different things than probate assets.

If you are executor, you'd be wise to hire an attorney in New Hampshire to make sure you don't make any serious mistakes. There is less risk if you are the only heir, but I'd still recommend it. Estates can be tricky.

Grab it and run-for a while

If the policy specifically names you as the sole beneficiary, the $ come directly to you. However, Robert Friend is correct-The proceedsof the policy "gross up" the tax value of theestate for Federal and State Estate Tax. InOhio, the probate court can order the beneficiaryof the policy to contribute back to the estatea pro-rata share of the tax liability of theEstate, if any.

Life insurance proceeds

The insurance proceeds should pass outside of probate and be payableto you. However, the proceeds will count towards the taxable estate ifany exists. The federal taxable estate requires $600,000.00 in valuebefore taxes are due. It is possible that New Hampshire also has a taxableestate.