Spouse Takes You Off Insurance During Divorce –then dies? (Florida probate & life insurance issues you need to know)

WEST PALM BEACH PROBATE LITIGATION— OK, so here is a somewhat recurring probate legal theme we see in Florida, and, I’m sure, around the country.

My husband took me off the life insurance ! Can he get away with it?

• You file for divorce.
• The judge issues a TRO (temporary restraining order) which orders, indeed,COMMANDS, that you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse NOT to touch any assets.
• Pay your bills, sure, but…
• Don’t transfer any money, don’t change any beneficiaries on life insurance, annuities, IRA’s retirement accounts, bank accounts, transfer of death accounts, joint accounts, etc.
• It’s a Florida Court order. It’s not a suggestion.
• A typical “freeze” order.
• A divorce order to preserve the status quo, while the court can get the lay of the land and later determine property distribution.
• Then –you guessed it. Your spouse removes you as the beneficiary of a big life insurance policy. …. then dies.

How do I get the insurance money back if my husband took me off as beneficiary while we were getting divorced, and then he died?

• Yes, in direct and willful violation of the court order, your spouse takes you off the life insurance.
• And dies.
• Now you have to deal with his Florida probate; his or her estate.
• Now, you probably know to sue the estate, to open up a probate in Florida, and file acreditor’s claim or a statement of claim. But.…

Can I sue my ex-husband’s father or mother who inherited the life insurance money?

• Can you sue the one who got the insurance money?
• Let’s assume that your spouse named…who else?…. probably his or her mother or father as the new beneficiary of the life insurance policy when he or she improperly removed your name as beneficiary in violation of the court order.
• Most Florida probate lawyers know to open the probate estate and file a statement of claim and deal with the executor of the will, what we call the Personal Representative of the estate in Florida.
• How about suing the one who got the insurance money?
• Suing the “new” “improper beneficiary for unjust enrichment or constructive trust.
• Whether an act of Florida contempt, a violation of a Florida court order, “voids” the bad act, is approached by two schools of legal thought.
• Florida’s districts are not in agreement on this issue, which has not been decided in all the districts.
• But, there seems something terribly, terribly wrong with permitting someone, your spouse, to willfully violate a court order, and get away with it.
• Consider reading the following three Florida cases on probate and divorce:
• 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)
• To read more about how the worlds of probate and estates can “collide” with divorce law, consider reading this article from the American Bar Association’s publication,Probate & Property: http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/When-Worlds-Collide-The-Interlay-Between-FamilyLaw-and-Probate-Administration.pdf