Life Insurance beneficiary?

Parent Cafe
21

Unfortunately their father would probably wind up with custody of them, one of the things that I frequently worry about. I do need to get a will anyway though, just in case. My parents are the only people that I would probably name as guardians. A few years ago we discussed naming one of my cousins(if she agreed) but she now has a family of her own and a very full plate. I don’t have any close friends and though I have some other family members that I think a lot of, I’m not sure I trust them that much plus most of the ones I trust are getting older like my parents.

I have seen how families can get over money. Fortunately I have not witnessed it in my family. My dad and his siblings were very peaceable when my grandmother passed away, same thing with my mother and her siblings when my other grandmother passed. I feel almost certain that my mother could be trusted unless something extreme happened like walking away from her Christian faith or developing dementia. I don’t think my Dad would do anything to hurt the kids intentionally, but sometimes he fails to consider people’s feelings.

When I look into a will I will also check into a trust or something of that nature and see if that is a feasible option.

22

I don’t know the right names for these things, but I understand that one person can be the physical guardian, and another can be the financial guardian. Perhaps your children can be the beneficiaries but the financial guardian can be the one to make decisions about the money.

23

My kids have named each other as beneficiaries on their company provided life insurance policies, which I think is sweet. But if they get married and/or have kids they’ll need to update that, I hope they remember!

24

It’s not too difficult to create an “empty” trust - often called a “pour-over” trust, with a bank or someone you trust as trustee and your children as beneficiaries. Then you name the trust as beneficiary of the insurance policy. The proceeds of the policy will then “pour-over” into the trust for the benefit of your children. When they reach majority, you can continue the trust, or, if you trust your kids, make them direct beneficiaries of any insurance.