Posted on 08/04/2021 5:15:22 PM PDT by pfflier
My half sister's father, a US Army E-7 retiree died very recently. They have already stopped his retirement and VA payments and understand they are terminated as of his DOD last week.
Her father had a VGLI policy and named her stepmother (not the half sister's biological mother who died giving childbirth) as the beneficiary.
The father and stepmother separated but did not divorce 12 years ago. The family has never had contact with the stepmother for that entire period and has no contact information.
The VA was notified of the death and is now searching for the stepmother beneficiary. They did not give a time period for the search but said they had to exercise due diligence in the search. Further questions on that gets us into a circular loop with the VA and insurance carrier with no definitive answer of timeline or responsibility.
The father, the VGLI policy holder, died as a resident of California. His DD 214 show his HOR as California.
The VA is searching, along with the insurance carrier, for the stepmother beneficiary. How long do they have to search legally and under what jurisdiction (state, federal or both) do they have to search until they declare she cannot be found?
Are there any laws regarding abandonment or disappearance that might apply?
If the VA/insurance company cannot find her, will the policy payout revert "By Law" to the eldest surviving child? Will the family have to go to probate and claim rights to the policy?
Any advice is sincerely appreciated. As you can see this is getting pretty complicated for a grieving family to understand.
I am sure they have investigators that will find the person.
just checking facebook, the IRS, DMV, and maybe a credit bureau will find 99.44% of people
Hire a good attorney
Relax...pretty sure they will find her.
Also, if you have the SS# you can call the SS administration Vital Statistics and they will verify if the person is dead.
(they don’t always know, but if they verify she is dead maybe that helps someone.)
The VA will run her SSN and get her last address she paid federal taxes from. Give them a little time to do their research. I have a VGLI Policy and IIRC I had to name three beneficiaries with their SSN.
https://benefits.va.gov/INSURANCE/resources_handbook_ins_chapter8.asp
If a principal beneficiary, otherwise entitled to payment of the insurance proceeds, does not make a claim for the proceeds within 1 year following the death of the insured, or if payment to such person within that period is prohibited by Federal law or regulation, payment may be made to the contingent beneficiary or in the order of precedence as set forth in paragraph 6.06 as if the person had died before the insured. Any such payment shall bar recovery by any other person
“Also, if you have the SS# you can call the SS administration Vital Statistics and they will verify if the person is dead.
(they don’t always know, but if they verify she is dead maybe that helps someone.)”
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They can also determine her mailing address if she is receiving SS benefits or SSI. Also, assuming she’s working, they also know her recent employer(s) who have reported her earnings. In today’s world we leave numerous “bread crumbs” as we move through life.
Thank you so much!! That helps immensely right now.
Reminder to everyone. Keep your beneficiaries paperwork up to date. It wins in the end.
I his named beneficiary will get the $.
And what's that going to accomplish, besides nothing?
Better than asking for legal advice from folks who don’t know
how it was explained to me in a similar situation, the stepmother gets the ins - Husband didn’t change the beneficiary and after 12 years they’ll consider he had enough time and that must have been his wishes. If she is deceased after him by at least a year, it may go her heirs, otherwise if they died about the same time or before he did, she could be considered predeceased to him, and it would go to his estate not just one child. You might find the predeceased rule in the beneficiary clause of the policy.
About the VGLI, IIRC, its benefit is reduced by a percentage every year over I forget, age 70? I’m pretty sure that clause is found in the small print of the policy. If Husband was eldery, it might be helpful to calculate what the benefit would actually pay, versus the emotional cost and the cost of a lawyer to try to go after it.
Thanks to all who have responded. I consider myself to be lucky to be associated with people who have such a broad experience base. Someone here always has a good answer to almost any question.
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