When it comes to life insurance it is always a contract between the insured and the insurer. The payment to be made comes into play at the demise of the insured. The money or funds are usually mandated to be paid to the named person in the policy. But in some cases someone that might not be the named person as the beneficiary might want to claim the money.
This brings in the issue of beneficiary designation contention. This means that the life insurance policy proceeds as been contested by another person. So this is where letter contesting life insurance beneficiary can come in.
So letter contesting life insurance beneficiary is a letter written to the insurer, contesting the beneficiary of a life insurance proceeds. The contest might be between the children from different marriages, current and ex spouses, different family members and undue influence from relatives. The letter will explain to the insurance company why the writer is contesting the life insurance beneficiary. It will help the insurance company see reasons why the beneficiary stated might not be the right beneficiary. The contesting letter is to explain to the insured why the life insurance proceeds shouldn’t be claimed by the stated beneficiary in the life policy insurance.
A life insurance beneficiary can be contested when the other party believes that at the time of designing a beneficiary, the insured lacked mental capacity. Another reason is when it is believe that the insured was under undue influence which might have occurred 2 to 3 days before the death of the insured. A life insurance beneficiary can be contested when the insured tries to change the beneficiary but failed to do it properly in consonance with the policy. When it comes to disputing or contesting of this nature, anyone with a valid legal claim can contest the already existing beneficiary. So instead of going the route of a lawsuit which is always lengthy and expensive, writing a letter of contest via life insurance attorneys might cut it.
A letter contesting life insurance beneficiary is a formal letter, so first is to adopt the formal letter format to craft the letter. Then you should include all the information that the insurance company will want to see to understand the reasons for the contest. You need to be convincing and persuasive in your letter to be able to project properly your points. The following information should be included in your letter
- Your personal details and your relationship with the insured
- Reason or reasons why you are contesting the life insurance beneficiary
- Why you think, the right person is the named person you have stated
- You should demonstrate how the insured was unable to update the insurance policy after an issue which could be due to sickness, separation or adoption
Sample 1:
Harry Patrick (ESQ)
Harry King law chambers
Austin South, United states
To Whom It May Concern
I’m writing this letter contesting the life beneficiary for Mr. Ben Hosea. Mrs. Laura Hosea is my client and she is contesting this. Her husband, Hosea passed on the 13th August 2009. His life insurance proceeds should have been released after 3 years as stated in the policy which the family has been informed. But the dispute is on the named beneficiary which is the wrong name.
Mr. Hosea divorces his first wife 7 years ago and the said wife had remarried. But the snag here is that he didn’t update the beneficiary name from his former wife to the current one. So our client, the current wife, Mrs. Laura Hosea is contenting this life insurance beneficiary. The truth is that at the later part of the deceased years, he suffered dementia (evidence and report attached to this letter) so he had no mental capacity at this time to make the changes
So we are contesting this claim and hope that you would be convinced to give a proper judgment. The named beneficiary is a mistake and proceeds should be held till this is sorted out. I hope you would oblige our request as it is the right thing to do.
Yours sincerely,
Harry Patrick (ESQ)
Sample 2
Philip Brown
The Phil and co chambers
Houston, United states
To Whom It May Concern
This letter of contest is to bring to your notice that the life insurance beneficiary of Mr. Pius is the wrong person. I have been the family Attorney for Mr. Pius while he was alive. There’s no way he will have assigned the proceeds of his life insurance to his brother. Mr. Pius had the name of his son changed in the insurance policy to that of his brother just three days before his death.
The son of Mr. Pius is contesting the named stated as his father life insurance beneficiary. Truthfully, Mr. Plus was sick of Alzheimer. So the brother, Mr. Brain might have coerced the decreased to change the beneficiary forms or even forced the documents that were used. The deceased might have agreed under duress or because of his reduced mental capacity. So there’s a dispute concerning the beneficiary.
It doesn’t just look right that the deceased’s son name was change few days before the death of the father. There must have been a foul play in motion. So this letter is to dispute the designation.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Philip Brown
Conclusion
There’s always a person named as a recipient of a life insurance proceeds after the death of an insured. But this instruction can be contested if one didn’t submit the beneficiary change in a timely manner or one did a last minutes change before death. So when a party finds out this and there’s a dispute, they will first have to write to the insurance company to keep the action on hold.
To make the insurance company honor your request, you would need to write in a clear terms why you want the disbursement stopped. The information you would need to include in your letter is stated above. You need to follow it and draft your letter excellently as you should.
