Can you dispute a life insurance beneficiary designation? 

On Behalf of | Mar 29, 2021 | Will Contests

Your parents had a life insurance policy, and they counted it as a major part of their estate. When they passed away, though, you found that the designation was not what you’d expected. You’re not named and you’ll get nothing.

Can you dispute this? 

In some cases, disputes are possible

Disputes are not always possible. Just because you wanted to get the money does not mean you have the legal grounds to dispute things if you don’t. That decision is up to your parents, and they made it. However, there are some limited situations in which you can dispute the designation on their insurance.

For instance, maybe you know you were listed as the beneficiary of the policies for decades. You have proof. Then, a month before they passed away, your parents changed the designation to someone else. You may be able to challenge on the grounds that the other person used undue influence to get your parents to make the change or that your parents lacked the mental capacity to understand what such a change would mean for you. 

Another example is if your parents had been married and divorced multiple times, and the people named as beneficiaries do not reflect your current family situation. You may be able to argue that your parents clearly intended the money to go to you and simply forgot to update the policy when they updated the rest of their estate plan. 

This can be a complex process

It’s putting it lightly to say that these types of challenges are complicated. You must know exactly what options you have and what steps to take as you move forward. Because your time to act is very limited, you need to seek help from an experienced advocate as quickly as possible.

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