Grandmother won't give me life insurance money my father left me 15 years ago......?

Question

My father passed away when I was 9. He supposedly left 60K life insurance to me, which I had to wait til I was 25 to receive. It was supposed to be handled by my grandmother until I was of age. When I turned 25, I asked about it and she said she would check on it. Well it has been 6 months and no word on it. What should I do? I would get a lawyer, but I have no real proof other than word of mouth that this money even existed. Also, am I entitled to the 15 (almost 16) years of interest? And am I entitled paperwork to prove that she didnt take some of the interest for herself?

Answer 1

Your father can't "leave it to you".  If you were the beneficiary, a trust would have been set up, and your social security number would have been used.  Hire a private investigator to do the SS number check, to search for funds in that number.

If your grandmother was the beneficiary, and the funds were "supposed to go to you", he set it up wrong.  Once the money goes to the beneficiary (assuming they aren't a minor), its theirs.  You can't direct what a beneficiary is to do with money.  

Having said that,  go ask the people WHY they told everyone that life insurance was in place.  I'm quite sure, the reason was probably because your father told them.  MOST LIKELY, even though he TOLD them that, either it didn't exist, or it went to pay off your father's debts and final costs.

No real proof, is exactly what you have.  Word of mouth is NOT proof.  You're probably asking, is there a database where you can look it up.  The answer is no.

Your mother should have had access to your father's personal papers.  She likely STILL has access to the checking account information.  She could ALWAYS go back and see what bank he was paying.  She'll have to pay to get cancelled checks from that far back, but it's doable.  I think you'll find he wasn't pay for any insurance - and it wasn't out there.

IF there was a $60,000 policy, it was probably owned by someone else.  IN which case, THEY get to decide who gets the money.  If it was through an employer, likely the SPOUSE gets it.  

Go talk to mom, and get on with life.  $60,000 isn't that much money.  You can make it in a year and a half, if you work your rear end off at two jobs.  

You're not entitled to interest.  You're not entitled to any paperwork.  Most likely if the money existed, you weren't entitled to that, anyway - or a trust would have been set up.  And think about this - if the money didn't exist, there isn't any "paperwork" that can prove it didn't exist.

Answer 2

verbal results are not countable. so sit and talk with your granny and try to convince her as per your way. this is the best way you do have right now.

http://www.rghins.com/

Answer 3

Did your father leave a will.

see your father atty.

Who was handling your fathers estate

Answer 4

Word of mouth is not good enough,unless someone else heard it from your father.There is a word for her Gready!!

                           Debbie O

Answer 5

Usually, insurance passes outside of a will. However, you might check with the local probate court ( if your dad's estate was probated) and see if there is anything in his will that appointed your grandma to be your financial trustee ( called a fiduciary). If so, the court clerk can tell you what to do to compel your grandmother to give you a full accounting and turn over the funds. Additionally, if your Dad was working at the time he died, perhaps he bought that policy through work, or it was provided to him as a benefit of his job. Why don't you call the employer and see if they can provide some information to you to see if they can give you the contact information, policy number, etc., so that you can write to the insurance company and find out if they released the funds to your grandmother. If he was a member of a union, he might have purchased a policy through them. Call the union and ask the same questions. You will have to do some sleuthing. The fact that your grandmother said "she'd check on it", and didn't deny that there was a policy, indicates to me that your suspicions are warranted. You will have to do some sleuthing. Start with those phone calls and trip to the probate court to see what you can find yourself. If that doesn't work, you will have to see a lawyer. If your grandmother took your money and spent it, that is criminal. Sometimes, it is permitted for the fiduciary to be reimbursed for expenses and to take a fee for handling the money, but it can not be an excessive amount.  Best of luck to you.

p.s.- If your Dad put the insurance proceeds into a trust for you, there should be a tax id for that trust, and taxes should have been paid throughout the years. If he left the money to your grandma directly, with an unofficial understanding to take care of you at 25, that is not enforceable. Also, ask your Mom if she remembers who your Dad's insurance agent was. Even if she just remembers the name of the person that insured your Dad's car, it's possible he bought life insurance through that agent--call the agent. So, start your investigation, and don't be discouraged.

Answer 6

Yes to all of your questions.  Hopefully she did not spend it....a common occurrence.  Contact an attorney for a free consultation and find out how they would find out....then you research it for free or hire the attorney on the contingency that you will pay them when they retrieve the funds.  You are entitled to this money and should pursue it.

Answer 7

Much depends on whether or not there is paper documentation covering what you were told.  In order for you to make a legal claim to this money, the life insurance policy would need to dictate that YOU are the beneficiary, with the monies to be held in trust by your grandmother as trustee of the trust.

If your dead Dad only listed Grandma as beneficiary, with a verbal agreement that you should get the money, you have no legal basis on which to claim the money.  It would only be Grandma's morality which would cough up some or all of the money involved.

Ask Grandma where the monies were put into trust.  If she was the trustee and didn't handle it properly, you are faced with suing Grandma for a breach of fiduciary responsibility to recover the funds, if they still exist.

Good luck.

Answer 8

well, I am not sure what to say. If it was all by word of mouth, then it possibly doesn't exist? I would sit down and try to talk to Grandma, I would use a lawyer as a last result, but get one if you don't feel like you are getting anywhere. Good Luck to you