If my father passed away and had 2 insurance policies does his wife of less than 6 months get all of his estate?
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If my father passed away and had 2 insurance policies does his wife of less than 6 months get all of his estate?
She is listed as the beneficiary and there is no Will. Am I entitled to any of his estate?
Asked on December 12, 2013 under Estate Planning, Wisconsin
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
1) Whomever is listed as the beneficiary(ies) on the insurance policy gets their proceeds--insurance polices are contracts and their proceeds pass to the person named in the contract. So if the new wife is the listed beneficiary, she gets the policy proceeds.
2) In your state when there is no will, the surviving spouse will keep her share of community property and get 1/2 the deceased's separate property (e.g. anything predating marriage) and the deceased's children not by that spouse (that is you and any siblings, since you are obviously not children of the "wife of less than 6 months") will get the other 1/2 of the separate property. (Again though, the insurance goes to the benefiary named in the policy.)
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