[WSBAPT] Insurance Co hold funds - minor heir but funeral expenses due

Tue Oct 2 14:09:44 PDT 2018

I have been through a similar situation and I agree that a Minor Guardianship will be required.  In my case, bad acting dad was the deceased and there were no funds other than the employer provide life insurance.  We petitioned for the allowance of funeral expenses out of the guardianship estate, as the funeral expenses were a hardship on the family, and were flatly denied.  The judge was clear that the other adults in the room should pay for the funeral, not the kid.

Tara M. Roberts

Puget Sound Law pllc

roberts at pugetsoundlaw.com <mailto:roberts at pugetsoundlaw.com> 

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Marsha Hudson
Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2018 1:03 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Insurance Co hold funds - minor heir but funeral expenses due

In my experience you will need to have a guardian appointed – no one with a criminal history – to marshal those funds.  I have had a couple of cases where the attorney was appointed.  It’s a limited appointment.  You will then probably need to seek establishment of a trust or other method for preserving the remainder of the assets for the minor, depending on the amount and the circumstances.  

Marsha

Marsha C. Hudson
Attorney at Law #23330

3221 NW 62nd Street, Seattle, WA  98107

Telephone: 206-297-3933

Fax: 206-357-9356
 <mailto:marsha at griffyn.us> marsha at griffyn.us

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? - Martin Luther King, Jr.

This e-mail may contain information that is protected by attorney-client, work product and/or other privileges.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, use, or reliance upon its contents is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact me immediately and return the email by forwarding it to this office at  <mailto:marsha at griffyn.us> marsha at griffyn.us and then deleting the e-mail.
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>  [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> ] On Behalf Of G. (Gus) Benjamin Lindsey III
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2018 12:47 PM
To: wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com> 
Subject: [WSBAPT] Insurance Co hold funds - minor heir but funeral expenses due

Good afternoon,

I have a probate case in which the decedent appears to have failed to identify payable on death beneficiaries on almost every account, including a life insurance policy. The decedent was survived by a minor child.

The life insurance company has indicated that per its policy the funds will not be released to the estate and its options are: 1) hold funds until the child reaches the age of majority or 2) release the funds to a custodian/guardian. (The decedent was not married to the father and my understanding is that releasing the funds to the father is unwise. (based on his criminal history.)

Probate is currently pending; and one main issue is payment of the funeral expenses, which my client advanced.

Has anyone dealt with this type of issue? The insurance company is requesting information regarding why the funds should not be released and why they should be applied to the funeral expenses.

Any insight would be appreciated, trying to get a head start since I have a short timeframe for responding to the insurance company.

Sincerely,

G. (Gus) Benjamin Lindsey III

Attorney-at-Law

The Law Office of G. Benjamin Lindsey III

2012 Grade Road, Suite 202

Lake Stevens, WA 98258

Phone:   (425) 263-9585

website: www.gbl3law.com <http://www.gbl3law.com/> 

Employment/Labor Law     Construction Law     Civil Litigation     Estate Planning      Probate     

Business Law

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: This e-mail message contains information belonging to The Law Office of G. Benjamin Lindsey III, which may be privileged, confidential and/or protected from disclosure.  The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.  If you think that you have received this message in error, please contact the sender.  If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying is strictly prohibited

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20181002/3d76fd60/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10411 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20181002/3d76fd60/image001.png>