Question:

My husband of 43 years passed away a few weeks ago. He had bought an insurance policy with a value of 10,000 to be used to cover his funeral expenses in 1965. He was a career army officer and knew the hazards of his profession. When I contacted the insurance company to inform them of his death, they informed me that the beneficiary on this policy was his first wife, a lady he divorced in 1976 after a brief marriage. When I tried to explain the situation and claim the funds for his funeral arrangements, the insurance company refused to release any further information and sent his ex-wife (care of my address) some beneficiary claim forms. Do you have any suggestion as to how I might deal with such a situation? The monthly payments for the insurance policy were automatically withdrawn from my husband's and my joint checking account. We were still making payments up until the time of his death. Quite naturally, I want to use the insurance funds to pay for his funeral as he is certainly entitled to have a proper and respectful funeral ceremony. This has been horribly distressing and I've been unable to speak to anyone at the insurance company who can suggest how this tragic situation can be resolved.

Jim's Reply:

To be sure, it isn't the responsibility of the insurer to tell you how to resolve this situation. From the perspective of that company he may have intended that to happen, it's always up to the insured to update their policy.

The best I can offer is for you to speak with a veterans law attorney to seek some guidance. As a rule all the attorneys you'll see here https://www.vetadvocates.org/cpages/sustaining-members-directory will offer a free consultation so you're welcome to speak with more than one.

Good luck.