Should I Get Life Insurance For Myself With My Daughter As The Beneficiary?
January 12th, 2010 - ByPosted in Life Insurance
My Ex-wife wants me to get life insurance with my daughter as the sole beneficiary. How do I set it up so that my ex-wife doesn’t get the bulk of the money and my daughter gets monthly payments until she is 18, and the rest when she graduates from College?
Do I get life insurance with a Trust as the beneficiary?
I want to make sure that if I get remarried, my entire family gets something instead of just my daughter.
What do I do?
9 Responses to “Should I Get Life Insurance For Myself With My Daughter As The Beneficiary?”
January 12th, 2010 at 10:38 am
You are on the right track as well as the other posts.
Your situation presents the exact reason why a consumer needs to work with a professional (insurance pro & lawyer) on these issues.
Setting up a trust as the beneficiary will allow YOU to stipulate the amounts and circumstances under which your daughter (or other beneficiary) receives the money. If you die before she reaches 18, the trustee can see that she receives the amounts you want (in lieu of child support). You can also stipulate that the trustee pay for college and put conditions on her perfomance (minimum grade point average) or have her pass a drug test to receive each payment (I hope you don’t need that but it happens).
It is also possible to change the trust beneficiaries after you remarry and possibly have more children. Most likely, you will want to review and update your insurance and legal documents after you remarry. Things change all the time.
Talk to a professional.
January 12th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
i think i can help you – you can set up a trust fund should anything happen to you where the insurance money is put and not touch till your daughter is 18 but if your wanting to leave a minor child money from an insurance policy for her needs to be met till she turns 18 you need to appoint such as your bank instution or someone else to make sure your daughters needs are met a minor child by law if anything should happen to you sir will need a payee as a child wont be able to handle there own provate funds till 18
January 12th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
See an agent that you trust. There are many ways to write a policy by which both you and your daughter can benefit.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
You should get the insurance. After naming whoever you want as the beneficiary and your daughter you should update your will. If you have a family later you need to update it accordingly. In the will you should specifically state that any beneficiary money should be held in trust until your daughter is 18 and that your ex should have no availability to it.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:42 am
When you get life insurance, you should name all your children as the beneficiary. Your ex-wife is no longer related to you, so she should not be named as the beneficiary.
Your daughter will not receive proceeds from life insurance until you are actually dead. If you wish to setup a college fund for your daughter, look for a 529 plan in your state or a Coverdell Plan.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:52 am
You make the beneficiary designation when you apply for the policy. You can set it up to go to whomever you choose, in any manner you choose. It can be lump sum or regular payments. Talk to an insurance professional and they can guide you in the process.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:23 am
If I were in your position I would take out a life insurance policy and name a trust as the beneficiary. You then give the trust a list of instructions which can include monthly payments up until the age of 18 and a lump sum payout when she hits 18. As for the possibility of remarrying, I would recommend taking out a second policy specifically for them. In my opinion, this can prevent possible squabbling in the event of your passing. I hope that information helps.
**Edit
You don’t “start over” a policy. You can either get a new one to replace the old (not recommnded), or rescind the old one by surrending it for cash value (assuming it’s whole life and not term), or just get a new policy altogether (which I recommend).
January 13th, 2010 at 11:48 am
um i worked at a credit union and they were really intelligent with this kind of stuff, either contact a bank or credit union, or ask a lawyer.
or you can wait til someone has the answer!
Good luck
January 13th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
You need to sit down with you insurance provider first and tell him what it is you are looking for. Once you have laid out your desires for your policy you need to contact a lawyer and have him be aware of your policy. He can then have the power to execute your policy in the event of death.
If you remary you start your policy over on different terms.
Leave a Reply