Wife of Slain Tampa Cop Sues His Mother Over Pension (insurance, school)

[kmarc]

Wow, this is sort of an interesting situation. Apparently the cop joined the force before he married and had a kid, and at the time named his mother beneficiary. He never amended the documents to benefit his wife and child after his marriage, so his mother received the payout and pension.

Wife of slain Tampa cop sues his mother over pension | Tampa Bay Times

So the wife is suing to get the pension. Tough situation, that. I really don't know what to make of it. There's a lot of missing info here. For example, did the wife receive benefits from life insurance or another source, and maybe the husband left things as they were so his mother would be provided for? Seem like there was probably already some uneasiness between the wife and her mother in law.

I can understand why the wife is suing, but it really seems like the mother in law in legally in the right here. And it is not known whether the husband's inaction was an oversight or deliberate.

[Stewabby]

I doubt it was deliberate. I always tell people when they marry or divorce to make sure to change their beneficiaries. Nothing like the ex-wife getting your life insurance policy when you are happily re-married and pass away.

[Heidi60]

Exactly ^^^

This is a great reminder to everyone to update their documents NOW.

From the above link:

"She said her policy payout was only $250,000 and that the rest went to Cindy and Adam, along with money from a separate policy of their own. To her knowledge, she said, Adam's schooling and other needs have all been paid for."

My guess is that he had a split for the beneficiaries and someone doesn't want to share. I wonder whether the window has a new boyfriend/husband?

[SeaSpur]

Odd.

At my company, a marriage is an automatic change in beneficiary requiring no action and all previous are voided.