<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi Eric,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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. </div><div class=""><br class=""><div class="">
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<div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Jul 27, 2018, at 12:26 PM, Eric Reutter <<a href="mailto:eric@lakehillsestateplanning.com" class="">eric@lakehillsestateplanning.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div dir="auto" class=""><div class=""><span class=""></span></div><div class=""><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div class="">Hi all,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I encountered an issue for which I have not yet found a good answer. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If anyone has experience using a small estate affidavit with a life insurance death benefit, I would be very grateful to hear you thoughts!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Best regards, </div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">Eric Reutter</b></div><div dir="ltr" class=""><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">J.D., LL.M. 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