Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

My dad died in jun 2003 in Florida, mom dec 2004 in virginia & my brother in mar 2008 in new york. I am the only surviving heir in my family. Because my mom left my dad after 50 yrs & came to live w/me, my dad's will excluded me & my mom & left everything to my brother. My mom's will left everything to me & my brother's will left everything to me. My brother was mentally incapable of handling my fathers estate so he told me to do it. My dad had nothing of value, my mom got rid of 90% of the belongings, sold the house at a big loss just to be rid of it because it was in horrible disrepair (father was a hoarder, used 16 huge dumpsters & ended up walking away with lots more stuff in house) & my mom split the money (about $5,000 ea) between herself, my brother & I. My mom had a stroke & after paying for her medical & care, very little was left. She had nothing of value because she lived w/my husband &i. We took care of her & her needs. I split what was left with my brother, about $2,000. My brother died of lung cancer & I took care of him for 4 months. He Also did not have anything of value & I paid his medical & other bills & cleaned out his apartment in NYC.. I recently found out there are insurance policies on everyone but the insurance company (MetLife) is requiring all the wills be probated before releasing any information to me. What do I do. Is this necessary? Can I avoid this? Do I have to go to Florida & NYC to do this?


Asked on 7/16/12, 4:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Paul B. Ward Law Offices of Paul B. Ward

You may have to probate all three wills.

Your dad's insurance was payable to someone, perhaps your mom, you or your brother or some third party who was not alive at the time of his death. If his insurance was payable to anyone who was living at the time of his death, they are entitled to the proceeds; if it was payable to someone who was not living at the time of his death, it would go to his estate. That would mean opening his estate to receive the insurance proceeds, then opening your brother's estate to receive the proceeds of your dad's estate and make distribution of the proceeds to you.

Your mom's insurance probably named you and your brother as beneficiaries, unless she had not changed it from when it might have named your dad as beneficiary. If your dad was still the beneficiary, since she died after him, his estate would have to be opened to receive the proceeds and then pass them on to your brother. If you and your brother were the beneficiaries, that would mean opening his estate to receive the proceeds to pass them along to you.

If your brother's insurance named either your dad or your mom, then their estates would need to be opened to receive the proceeds and pass them along to you. If your brother's insurance named you only, then the insurance company should pay the proceeds to you whether or not your brother's will was probated.

It doesn't sound right to me that MetLife will not give you enough information to determine what you need to do. If they continue to stonewall you, perhaps you could open your mother's estate in Virginia by probating her will, and use the power of the probate court to require MetLife to give you the information on all the policies. For that you would probably need an attorney.

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Answered on 7/17/12, 3:07 pm


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