Legal Question in Insurance Law in Oklahoma

beneficiary

I live in FL and my father lived in OK. He recently passed away from an accident and I always knew he had an policy with a particular company. I found out that he di have one, but never changed beneficiaries after his divorce from his second marriage. His second wife is the beneficiary who is listed as his common law wife and I am the contingent. Who is entitled to make a claim? The company asked me to provide a divorce decree from their marriage as well as the death certificate. He was remarried in Aug. 2007, but she (third wife) is NOT named on the policy or plans on filing anything with the probate office. Am I legally entitled to the money since we have no knowledge of the second wife and the third wife was never named?


Asked on 3/15/08, 7:41 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
David Slater David P. Slater, Esq.

Re: beneficiary

Unless you can prove she is deceased, she is the beneficiary.

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Answered on 3/15/08, 7:53 pm
Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Re: beneficiary

If she is still alive, she "wins." An insurance policy is a contract and a divortce does not alter its terms unless the contract expressly so provides. If no one can find the missing wife, then eventually, you get the funds.

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Answered on 3/16/08, 2:17 pm


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