Blog

Divorced spouses who do not update their beneficiary designations are taking an unnecessary risk, as illustrated by a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.  In Sveen v. Melin, No. 16-1432 (cert. granted December 8, 2017), the Met Life insurance company was “caught in the middle” when its policyholder Mark Sveen died in 2011.  He had purchased his life insurance policy and designated his then-wife, Kaye Melin, as his […]

The Superior Court initially reversed the trial court’s order, but after reargument en banc, affirmed the trial court’s order allowing the estate to seek recovery of the proceeds from the ex-wife.

Here is an interesting issue, not yet resolved by the Pennsylvania courts: whether the proceeds of a life insurance death benefit may be counted as a marital asset. Here’s the story: Let’s say that husband and wife are separated, and one of them dies. If the grounds for divorce existed prior to the death (i.e., both spouses filed their affidavits of consent, or they were separated two years prior to the death), the divorce […]