[WSBAPT] Can a small estate affidavit be used to claim a life insurance policy with no living beneficiary designated?

[Krista MacLaren]

Hi Eric,

I haven’t specifically tried this, but my thought is that your best bet is to contact the insurance company and ask them if they will accept the small estate affidavit.  You could provide them with the statute that authorizes it, and a sample of what it looks like, and see what they say.  They may say their internal policy requires Letters, and then you have to decide whether it is worth trying to overcome the power of internal policies and ignorance, or if it is simpler to open a probate.  You may be able to open the probate ex parte via the clerk, which does substantially reduce the time involved.  

Krista J. MacLaren
Attorney at Law
Northgate Executive Center II
9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 600
Seattle WA 98115
(206) 523-6116
kjm.inc at icloud.com

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> On Jul 27, 2018, at 12:26 PM, Eric Reutter <eric at lakehillsestateplanning.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I encountered an issue for which I have not yet found a good answer. 
> 
> Simple and common situation: decedent passed away with a small (well under $100,000) life insurance policy for which no living beneficiary was named (all beneficiaries listed had predeceased the decedent). I haven't been given the policy yet, but I am making the assumption that the policy will say that the death benefit is now payable to the estate by default.
> 
> My question is, assuming all the threshold criteria of the small estate affidavit are met (under 100k, debts disposed of, etc...) can the small estate affidavit be presented to the life insurance company as authority for them to distribute to the surviving family member? (Thereby avoiding the need to open probate for just this small insurance benefit)
> 
> I am familiar with this small estate procedure when it comes to a bank account, but less so with a life insurance contract that likely defaults to being payable to the estate if no living beneficiary is named.
> 
> If anyone has experience using a small estate affidavit with a life insurance death benefit, I would be very grateful to hear you thoughts!
> 
> Best regards, 
> 
> Eric Reutter
> J.D., LL.M. Taxation
> Lake Hills Estate Planning, PLLC 
>  <x-apple-data-detectors://1/0>10900 NE 8th Street, Suite 1000 <x-apple-data-detectors://3/0>
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> 
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