My Husband Changed Life Insurance Beneficiary At Divorce & then Died

In Florida probate, there are many times when the world of Florida divorce law “collides” with Florida probate.  In this Florida probate commentary, I want to discuss a very specific & limited set of factsinvolving both Florida probate law & divorce law.  What Palm Beach probate attorneys refer to as the Florida dissolution of marriage.  If you are going through a divorce, and one of the parties died after changing a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy, bank account, or IRA or retirement plan —in violation of a Florida divorce court order — listen up.

My husband changed the life insurance beneficiary during our divorce !

• How do I change the life insurance back to me if my husband changed the beneficiary during divorce?
• My West Palm Beach probate litigation law firm has had the pleasure of dealing with, and working with, no exaggeration, the VERY best–the creme de la creme— of Florida divorce attorneys.
• I mean, serious, focussed, high dollar, big name Florida, and Palm Beach, divorce attorneys who we are always greatful to, and flattered by, when they refer a Palm Beach probate or estate case to us.
• So, here is a recurring fact pattern in the Palm Beach estate lawyer world which I will begin with, with questions.
• What do I do if the divorce judge ordered no changes to assets, and my husband violated that order by changing the beneficiary of a life insurance policy? or…………
• How do I get the life insurance policy when my now deceased wife changed the beneficiary before she died and during our Florida divorce?

Understanding Florida Bank Accounts, Life Insurance Policies, and Will Substitutes inFlorida Probates & Estates

• So, in Palm Beach, many people own money or assets as will substitutes.
• Many assets like Florida bank accounts, IRA’s, retirement accounts, Pay on Death, POD, Transfer on Death, TOD and Totten Trusts “go” to, or get inherited by, family members, husbands & wives, and heirs at law by operation of law.  By Florida survivorship law !
• Oh yes, that includes Florida life insurance, too !
• OK…. so???

Florida Divorce: Freeze Orders and TRO’s

• In a Florida divorce, it is common for the divorce court judge to enter an order freezing all assets
• Probate lawyers Palm Beach would call this a TRO
• A temporary restraining order is issued which says: don’t transfer any assets, don’t sell ’em and don’t change the beneficiary.
• But, what happens?
• Divorces get bitter and husbands and wives change the beneficiary to a $1 Million Bank account or a $5 Million Life Insurance Policy
• This violates the court order !
• A person who does this can be held in contempt !
• But….then…. they die !
• And the Palm Beach estate is left to clean up the mess.

Florida Probate When A Beneficiary Is Changed in a Florida Divorce

• OK, so…. what if your spouse violated the order freezing assets?
• What if he or she purposefully, willfully removed you from the bank account Palm Beach?
• Or…. he or she took your name off the $5 Million insurance policy?
• That’s a violation of the order right?
• Yes, but……………………

Want to read more about Florida probate law & Divorce?

• Click on this link to read a free article from the American Bar Association’s publication,Probate & Property, written by Palm Beach probate lawyer John Pankauski: http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/When-Worlds-Collide-The-Interlay-Between-FamilyLaw-and-Probate-Administration.pdf

 

Winning in the Palm Beach Probate

• I won’t get into academics, legal theory, etc.
• I will say two things to those who were involved in a Florida divorce where a husband or wife wrongly changed a beneficiary :
• 1st: you need to read the following cases:
• Browning v. Browning, 784 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 2nd DCA, 2001)
• Topol v. Polokoff, 88 So. 3d 341 (Fla. 4th DCA, 2012)
• Valley Forge Life Ins. Co. v. Delaney, 313 F. Supp.2d 1305 (M.D. Fla., 2002)
• 2nd:

How do I sue to get the life insurance back or to get the IRA or bank account beneficiary changed in Florida estates?

Consider the following:

1. File a statement of claim in the dead spouse’s Florida estate
2. If there is no estate, by God, open up a Florida probate.
3. Sue the person who got the life insurance money when your spouse ignored the divorce court’s order and changed the beneficiary
4. Sue for what?
5. Unjust enrichment
6. Constructive Trust
7. Sue the person who inherited the IRA or retirement funds or the Florida bank account when the beneficayr was changed during divorce
8. Preserve all hearing and trial matters for appeal if you lose, or, better yet, if you win !