Legal Question in Insurance Law in Pennsylvania
Insurance
My grandmother had an insurance policy naming my mother as sole beneficiary. My mother passed away 2 years ago. My grandmother recently passed away. My father is my mother's beneficiary. I contacted the insurance company with both death certificates and indicated that my father is my mother's beneficiary. The insurance company told me that the policy would not be given to my father, but to my grandmother's estate. Is this correct? There were no secondary beneficiaries.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Insurance
Sorry to hear of your loss.
The insurance company is probably correct.
I think you meant to say your father is your mother's "heir," that is, the person who was named in her will if she had one. "Beneficiary" means the person named to get the benefits in an insurance policy.
Usually, the policy will have language that controls where the benefits are paid, if the beneficiary dies first, and there's no "contingent" or "secondary" beneficiary. Typically, those clauses provide that the money goes to the insured's estate.
Unfortunately, that means that the proceeds can be subjected to inheritance taxes and has to go through the probate estate. Which is why people should ALWAYS have a contingent beneficiary named, and update their policies when a beneficiary passes.
You or your father should consult an attorney to review the actual language of the policy and find if anything can be done. State law may have some effect.
Re: Insurance
I agree the insurance company is probably correct. If your grandmother was living in PA at the time of her passing an estate will need to be in opened in PA.
If she had a will, that will needs to be probated if not then the intestate laws of PA will control the distribution of the insurance proceeds.
Sorry about your loss.
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