Legal Question in Family Law in New York
Married or not
My father just recently passed away, for 14 years he has not live with my stepmother. Everyone on my side of the family thought they had been divorced and before his death he told his local vetrans hospital that he was divorced, his death certificate says he is divorced and now the stepmother is saying they were never divorced. All my father had was a life insurance policy(no will or anything that he could put in a will to be given away) and he told me that I was the sole benifactor on the policy and I was to split the money evenly amongst the children(there are 4 of us). From his first marriage my father was in the rears in child support of about $17,000, there was a judgement entered in his name after his death for the child support. My mother says that my sister is going to pursue the child support even though she is going to get about $52,000 from the life insurance. My questions are:
1) Is my stepmother still considered married to my father does she have any claim to the life insurance money?
2) If she pursues a status change(married) on the certificate will this hinder the payout of the policy?
3) Can my sister get the money for the child support?
Sorry about all the questions I'm lost. Thank you for your help
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Married or not
If there is a beneficiary named on the policy, then there should not be a problem since insurance proceeds pass outside of the estate. If no beneficiary is named, then the estate receives the funds and, depending upon the circumstances, if he was really still married, then his wife will be able to participate in the estate. I would question how the judgment was entered after your father's death. Also, a child is not entitled to sue for child support. Only the custodial parent can do that.
A lawyer needs to examine all of the facts and documents as well as research records to determine if there was a divorce and to completely answer your questions. Our office offers such services. If you wish to discuss this matter further, please call our office.
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