Question
Oregon.
I now live in Oregon but here is my situation.
My grandmother passed in November of 2004. She was in the care of family friends at the time. She had life insurance for me and my daughter for years until the day she died.
At the funeral the caretaker of my grandmother informed me that she had the life insurance policies and that she was going to give them to me. I just needed to continue payment.
After months of the run around they finally dissappeared with both policies which I know for a fact they have.
Today I did a people search and found out basically where they live. Is there any way for me to take leagal action to get these policies or just what can I do in gereral legally. I also have reason to believe that they have the policy of at least one other family member. I believe that this is extortion in some type of a way, it just isn't right. And for them to all of a sudden dissappear, something has to be wrong.
Please help me.
Sincerely,
Grandmasbaby
Answer
Oregon.
I now live in Oregon but here is my situation.
My grandmother passed in November of 2004. She was in the care of family friends at the time. She had life insurance for me and my daughter for years until the day she died.
At the funeral the caretaker of my grandmother informed me that she had the life insurance policies and that she was going to give them to me. I just needed to continue payment.
After months of the run around they finally dissappeared with both policies which I know for a fact they have.
Today I did a people search and found out basically where they live. Is there any way for me to take leagal action to get these policies or just what can I do in gereral legally. I also have reason to believe that they have the policy of at least one other family member. I believe that this is extortion in some type of a way, it just isn't right. And for them to all of a sudden dissappear, something has to be wrong.
Please help me.
Sincerely,
Grandmasbaby
I think I got this right. You're not saying your grandmother had ins. on her life with you & your daughter as beneficiaries but had taken ins. out on you & your daughter (you & your daughter being the insureds). You were told by grandma's caregiver to continue payment on the policies. Was your grandmother making the prem. payments & was she the owner? Who were the bene(s)? How are you making payments (where is the ins. co. sending the prem. notices to?) If you are making payments, you must have the name of the co. Have you asked the ins. co. for any assistance - if your grandmother was owner (owner is only one who can make any changes on policies such as change of bene) -you will need to see what they require to allow a change of ownership. I would ask the caregiver again when you might expect the policies - if you don't get them, I would contact a lawyer for options.
Answer
First, insurance policies are paper, and can be replaced if destroyed or misplaced, but still active.
Before you go too far though I think you need to understand your rights (if any) in this situation. There are three parties in a life insurance transaction; the insurer, the Insured, and the Owner of the policy (policyholder). In your case the Owner of two separate life insurance policies was your grandmother. You (her granddaughter), and your daughter (her great granddaughter) were the named Insured's of these policies. A fourth entity to the contract is the beneficiary, with no rights (other than to receive the proceeds upon the death of the Insured), unless named an irrevocable beneficiary (generally not the case).
In a life insurance contract, the Owner has the power to control the contract. The insurance company's requirement is that there is an 'insurable interest'. That requirement is satisfied by way of the existing relationship between the parties of this transaction at the time the policies were established.
As the Owner of the policies your grandmother paid the premiums. If you and/or your daughter predeceased your grandmother, the named beneficiary would have received the proceeds of the respective contract. Generally, named beneficiaries are someone of majority age or an entity, e.g. a trust, estate, or corporation. My guess is your grandmother was the primary beneficiary (as she was the one paying the premiums and had the insurable interest). She could have changed the primary beneficiary designation when you reached majority age by naming you the beneficiary of your daughters policy, but those who pay the premiums on a third party Insured will generally name themselves the primary beneficiary. It is possible each Insured's estate was named as the contingent beneficiary -- it doesn't really matter as in this case neither Insured is deceased.
Aside from the death benefit there are often accumulated cash values associated with this type of contract. Again, it is the Owner (who paid the premiums) of the policies who controls the cash value. At any time during the years your grandmother could have borrowed from the cash value, or surrendered the policies for the cash value. It is also possible, upon your grandmother's death her estate took control of the cash value of these policies, unless an automatic Ownership transfer provision was previously elected. If an automatic Ownership transfer provision was selected, in the event the Owner predeceases the Insured, Ownership of said policy would automatically vest in the Insured. This is not likely as you would have received notification of such an event from the insurance company.
However, in your OP, you stated, "At the funeral the caretaker of my grandmother informed me that she had the life insurance policies and that she was going to give them to me. I just needed to continue payment." That was in November 2004.
Almost two years later you are attempting to understand what actually happened to these policies. Based on the aforementioned information I hope you understand that solely as an Insured you have little, if any interest in the values associated with these policies, unless her Will specifically provided a directive regarding the policies upon her death. Your topic headline, "Please Help! Someone has stole my life insurance," may not be at all accurate.
You had absolutely no Ownership interest in either policy. While it was insurance on your lives, you had no control over the policies. If premiums were being paid on the policies at the time of the Owner's death, what are the chances the premiums have been paid over the past two years? If you know the name of the insurance company, as the Insured you could call them to determine if the policies are still in force. In addition to your personal information you will need the approximate year of purchase, your grandmother's name at the time of the purchase and her name at the time of death (if it changed), her last address, her SS# if available, and her date of birth.
What to do now. . .
Now that you understand your interest in this situation is extremely limited, you could approach whoever it was who handled your grandmother's estate, and ask the status of the policies. Realize they could have legally been surrendered to generate cash to settle the decedent's estate. It's possible that they have not, but who would have continued paying the premiums?
In a non accusatory tone you could ask:
1) Were the policies surrendered for their cash value?
If the answer is yes, you now know the status of the policies. There's not much else you can do. If the answer is no, they were not surrendered, you could then ask:
2) Do you recall which insurance company underwrote the policies?
3) Has anyone (the estate) continued to pay the premiums of the policies?
If the answer is that no one continued the premiums, but the policies have not been surrendered, it's possible the policies could be in a 'reduced benefit', or 'paid up' status, and could be reinstated to full value by paying back premiums. There is no way to determine that until you do the research. . .
If you have follow up questions or care to elaborate please post to this tread. Let this be a lesson that the only insurance you can count on is the insurance you purchase. People who rely on grandmothers, parents and employers find themselves in these situations.
KTL
Answer
To Betty and KnowTheLaw:
I greatly appreciate you concern and advice. I learned more reading those posts then I have found in months of what I now know was empty research.
If I could just ask a question that may as well blow my case, in your eyes out the water?
If the insured (me) does not have the name of the insurance company is there any steps that can be taken to get this information?An insurance database with geral information maybe? If so, can it be done by a person like myself that does not know the law? Please keep in mind that I do have all of the information required in order to follow through with questioning of the insurer.
A very valid point was made with some generosity of words. If the policy has been turned in then the monies are gone plain and simple! The reality to me at this point is closure around the whole situation! Why tell me at the funeral you are going to give me what is mine and give instructions on the care of such an item then turn around and STEAL it or cash it in or whatever was done.
Again, thank you so much for this information.
Answer
The MIB has a web site to help locate "lost" policies. However, there is a $75.00 charge. (individual underwritten applications submitted to ins. cos. within the past eleven years)
There are other ways you could check for the co. if you could get access to some of the following: an address book to check for the name(s) of any ins. cos. or ins. agts., cancelled checks or bank statements to see if any checks were made out to any ins. cos.
There are private companies (some on the web - you can find them by doing a "google" search) who for a fee will check for ins. policies on individuals & with what co.
edited to add P.S.: You said at the funeral the caregiver told you she would give you the policies & you just needed to continue payment on them to keep them in force. Did she give you any idea how she expected you to continue payment without the policies or knowing the name of the ins. co.? Did you ask whoever handled your grandmother's estate the questions KNOwtheLAW suggested you ask?
Answer
Why tell me at the funeral you are going to give me what is mine and give instructions on the care of such an item then turn around and STEAL it or cash it in or whatever was done.
At the time of the funeral it's often too soon for an executor/executrix to know about all the . There are probate fees, attorney fees, taxes, medical bills, debts, and other hidden costs associated with settling the estate. These costs are generally paid with remaining assets of the decedent; investments, cash in the bank, real property, cash values in life insurance, cars, furniture, etc.
It's possible your grandmother did not have enough liquid cash to settle her estate, forcing the party responsible to liquidate whatever assets were available to generate the required cash. If that was the case the life insurance policies may have been surrendered to generate necessary cash to pay the estate's expenses.
Remember, you did not own or control these policies. This was not YOUR life insurance per se, but policies insuring your and your daughter's lives. They were your grandmother's policies as she paid the premium and was the Policy owner. It would have been appropriate, and legal, for the responsible party to surrender the policies for their cash value, especially if the estate needed the proceeds to pay expenses.
Whoever made that statement to you at the funeral may not have known about all the expenses at that time. It will often take several months (sometimes years) to settle an estate. If the life insurance had to be surrendered they may be reluctant to explain why, since 1) they made that statement to you at the funeral, and 2) if you accused them of stealing YOUR life insurance.
If you are curious, you may always visit the courthouse in the county where your grandmother lived and get a copy of your grandmother's will, and if the estate has been settled, you may obtain a copy of the final accounting. These are public documents, and for a small copying charge you may take them home to review at your leisure.
KTL