Changing life insurance but why asking for will?

squ1rrel5

My father recently passed away and we are in the process of changing all the accounts in his name etc.

My mum has a life insurance policy of which he was the beneficiary, so obviously she's wanting to change this, and is now looking to name me as the beneficiary/policyholder - my mum has given her insurance provider a copy of the death certificate and my relevant identification documents, but they have written to her and asked for a copy of my dad's will? We can't see how this would have any relevance to my mums life insurance policy so wondering why theyre asking for it?

Is there anyone who could shed light on the matter please? Thank you.

kingstreet

How exactly are/were they beneficiaries?

There is no simple process to have a beneficiary named on a life policy. It needs to be done in one of several particular ways.

If the cover is joint, the benefit it payable to the survivor.

If the cover is taken out 'life of another' the beneficiary is the Assured, the policyholder.

If the policy is written in trust, the trustees authorise the payment of the benefit to the beneficiaries.

Otherwise, the benefit is paid to the estate of the deceased, so the provider needs to know the name of the Executor (or Administrator of an Intestacy).

The Executor/Administrator then deals with the benefit along with the other estate assets/liabilities.

kingstreet

On the issue of your Mum's cover, to have you named as beneficiary, she would need to obtain and complete the necessary trust form from the provider.

Nearlyold

It may be your mums policy is a "life of another" policy whereby your mother is the life assured but your late father was the policy holder - in which case the policy does not belong to your mother and would be part of your father's estate, hence asking for a copy of the will to see who the policy has been left to - though the policy may not have been specifically mentioned in the will.