Aetna Life Insurance Co. v. Bunt
Change in beneficiary contrary to divorce court order will not be honored.
Change in beneficiary contrary to divorce court order will not be honored.
Term life insurance may have a value.
Order prohibiting ex-wife from maintaining life insurance on life of ex-husband reversed. The matter appears one for the wife and the insurer to dispute – ex-husband does not give adequate rationale for conferring general prohibitory authority upon the court.
Children have right to insurance where husband agreed to maintain life insurance program for their benefit, but never named the policies.
Trial court erred in ordering alimony payor to submit to physical examination so she could get life insurance to protect alimony. Since alimony ends on payor’s death, neither he nor his estate is obligated to assist ex-wife in obtaining policy.
Term life insurance was a marital asset subject to a pendente lite order enjoining disposition of assets without court approval. Therefore, where husband changed beneficiary after order and was then murdered, proceeds belong to wife.
Designation of life insurance beneficiary is not vacated by divorce as state law is pre-empted by federal law.
Where insurance policy was awarded to husband, but he never changed beneficiary, former wife gets the proceeds, even though the divorce decree did not state how beneficiary interest was to be effected.
Constructive trust for life insurance proceeds for benefit of minor children was appropriate where divorce stipulation required decedent to maintain his minor children as beneficiaries of policy through his employment. Support provisions did not end with his retirement, so life insurance requirement continued.
Minor children from first marriage were not entitled to constructive trust upon life insurance proceeds where the policies were acquired by the decedent following remarriage, even though divorce decree required life insurance, even though none existed at the time.