Quora Answer: Although My Parents Divorced 17 Years Ago, Why was My Mother the Sole Beneficiary on His Life Insurance Policy?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “17 years ago, my parents divorced and remarried.  2 weeks ago, my father died.  My mother was the sole beneficiary on the life insurance policy.  She kept all of the money for her retirement, even though she makes $200,000 a year.  Would you do this to your kids?”

This question is emotive, since it asks us to make a moral judgement on a person based on scanty information.  I am not going to do so.  What I can speak about is the legalities.  Since she is the legal beneficiary of the policy, she has the right to do with it as she sees fit.  Unless there is some enforceable legal provision on how she spends it, you have no right to the money.  What she earns is irrelevant to this.

Since your parents divorced 17 years ago, the fact that your late father kept a policy in force for that period of time with his ex-wife as a beneficiary is interesting.  Either he really cared for her, or he was extremely remiss in his financial management.  He had almost two decades to nominate new beneficiaries.  If he left the children nothing, then the one at fault is your late father.  This is why it is important to keep your policies updated.