Articles Posted in Life Insurance

The Law Office of Mark S. Humphreys, P.C. was able to get a settlement in a life insurance case recently that was not a normal situation.

Texas has a law referred to as the “Slayer Statute.”  This law which is found in the Texas Insurance Code, Section 1103.151, states that if a person named as the beneficiary in a life insurance policy intentionally causes the death of the insured, then that beneficiary is excluded from recovery of the life insurance benefits.  If this happens then according to Texas Insurance Code, Section 1103.152, the life insurance benefits then go to the next person entitled to the proceeds of the policy.

Mark represented the daughter of the insured.

The law in Texas regarding who is excluded from receiving life insurance benefits when the insured has been killed is clear.  Texas Insurance Code, Section 1103.151, says that the named beneficiary forfeits their rights in the life insurance proceeds if the beneficiary is a principal or accomplice in willfully bringing about the death of the insured.

This issue is discussed in this 2019, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division opinion styled, Reliastar Life Insurance Company, P.T., a minor, and D.T., a minor v. Itani Milleni f/k/a Trang Vu.

This is an interpleader case filed by Reliastar, who insured the life of Tuyet Tran.  Reliastar needed this Court to decide whether Trang Vu, Tuyet’s husband and primary beneficiary, or P.T. and D.T., Tuyet’s children and contingent beneficiaries, are entitled to the proceeds.  This suit was instigated because Vu was suspected of murdering Tuyet, which if true, would disqualify him from receiving the insurance proceeds.  Vu was never prosecuted for the death of Tuyet, but a criminal conviction is not a prerequisite for forfeiting the insurance proceeds.

The Law Office of Mark S. Humphreys, P.C. is pleased to announce the settlement of a life insurance case wherein Mark was able to recover life insurance benefits for his client.

Mark’s client was the common-law wife of man who had a life insurance policy through his employer.  Texas recognizes these informal marriages in the Texas Family Code, Section 2.401.

Upon the death of the man, Mark’s client made a claim for the life insurance proceeds.  No one had been named as the beneficiary of the life insurance policy  This claim was denied.  The employer asserted there was no formal marriage and any life insurance proceeds went to the estate of the employee.  This man did not have kids and his parents were deceased.  If this man were married to Mark’s client, then all the proceeds would go to Mark’s client.

For attorneys handling life insurance cases here is news:

In early November, the Law Offices of Mark S. Humphreys, settled another life insurance case. The details are confidential as part of the agreement but here is what can be discussed.

The case involved a lady who had purchased coverage on herself years ago but when she moved from one state to another, she changed banks without forwarding the information to the insurance company and thus, the automatic bank drafts ceased and she had a lapse in coverage. She corrected the lapse within three months but as part of renewal of the policy she had to re-affirm her health conditions. In doing so, the insurance company claimed that her health condition had changed for the worse and that this change was not truthfully disclosed in the renewal application. When the lady died eight months later, her daughter, the beneficiary under the policy, made a claim for benefits. The life insurance company began an investigation and discovered the health conditions that had not disclosed in the renewal application and denied the daughter the life insurance benefits.

The Law Office of Mark S. Humphreys, P.C. is pleased to announce a settlement in a life insurance dispute between Mark’s client and the wife of a lady who killed her husband, claiming the killing was self-defense.

Mark’s client was the daughter of the deceased husband and the secondary beneficiary under the life insurance policy.

The primary beneficiary was the wife.

The Law Office of Mark Humphreys, P.C., is pleased to announce the settlement of a life insurance case wherein the life insurance company recognized they owed the policy benefits but was unsure who was entitled to the money.

In this case, the deceased had named his wife as the primary beneficiary and his wife’s son, from a previous marriage, as the secondary beneficiary.  The deceased had divorced his wife prior to his death without changing the beneficiaries under the policy.

By operation of Texas law and no exceptions applying, the divorce resulted in the ex-wife being automatically excluded as a beneficiary under the policy.  This meant the claim went to the secondary beneficiary, the son of the ex-wife and Mark’s client.

Life insurance claims that are denied for missed payments of premiums is pretty common.  This issue was discussed in a Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, opinion styled, Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company v. Ashley E. Parker, et al.

Robert Parker applied for a whole life policy with Colonial on October 30, 2014.  Ashley Parker and Aden Barron were beneficiaries of the policy.  The policy was issued on November 20, 2014.

On June 22, 2015, seven months later, Parker died in a car wreck.  A claim for benefits were made on the life insurance policy.