How long does it take for life insurance to be paid?

Question

My grandma died 9 months ago. Everything in her estate has been sold and taken care of. The only thing we are waiting on is for Guardian life insurance to send us the check. Our lawyer says he calls Guardian once a week. And our lawyer said once he receives the check from Guardian he will send out the money to the 6 of us who are in the will. It seems to me that 9 months is an awfully long time to wait for the money.

Another side of the story is that my uncle is the estate trustee, and he is a very weathly man. So he could care less about how long it takes to receive the money, because he doesn't need it. For myself though I could really use the money, and i would like to call Guardian life insurance myself to find out where the money is, but I don't want to mess things up with me calling. if I called would it be ok or would that just slow things down even more?

Answer 1

Who is the beneficiary of the life insurance? Individuals who are all age 18 or over, or a trust? Did your grandmother die of natural causes? Are you in the USA and is this Guardian Life Insurance Co. of New York, NY? http://www.guardianlife.com/

Or are you in some other country? Guardian Life is also active in the UK, and in the UK it may be necessary to have Inland Revenue clearance. But you said "lawyer" and not "solicitor" so I'll assume this is the USA.

Normally life insurance should be paid out in a month. Insurance companies have to pay interest from date of death and they gain nothing by delaying.

If what your lawyer is saying is correct, then the life insurance policy was payable to the estate, and is being paid out in probate, according to the will (or if no will, according to the intestacy law of your state, which you didn't mention).

It does often take 9-24 months to pay out assets from an estate, although some may be paid out earlier if the executor/administrator is confident there are no hidden debts and if the estate is under $2 million and so there won't be any federal tax (there may be state tax).

(In the UK most policies are written in trust to avoid probate; in the USA they are mostly written payable to specific beneficiaries, or to an ILIT (a life insurance trust). Either way, there should be no probate of it and no estate tax. But your grandmother may have been badly advised.)

Who knows if your lawyer is telling the truth? Who is the executor/-trix? That person -- or any beneficiary named in the policy -- has standing to call Guardian and ask what's going on.

I would do that today.

((Pay no mind to what others say about probate. Especially what Norman F. Dacey says in his book, "How to Avoid Probate!". Probate in some jurisdictions -- New York, for example -- is cheap and easy. Probate in others -- California comes to mind, and England is not far behind -- is hell. Which is why in California everybody with any sense has a living trust (RLT) with a pour-over will.))

Answer 2

I believe your lawyer didn't tell you yout grandma's estate is going through Probate, which usually takes about a year?

If she didn't have a irrevocable trust with the will, it's going through probate. But you have the right to ask the lawyer any question, since you were named in the will.

Answer 3

I recommend that you try this website where you can compare rates from different companies: http://HELP-INSURE.NET/index.html?src=5YAcVAsgY99axx1

RE :How long does it take for life insurance to be paid?
My grandma died 9 months ago. Everything in her estate has been sold and taken care of. The only thing we are waiting on is for Guardian life insurance to send us the check. Our lawyer says he calls Guardian once a week. And our lawyer said once he receives the check from Guardian he will send out the money to the 6 of us who are in the will. It seems to me that 9 months is an awfully long time to wait for the money.

Another side of the story is that my uncle is the estate trustee, and he is a very weathly man. So he could care less about how long it takes to receive the money, because he doesn't need it. For myself though I could really use the money, and i would like to call Guardian life insurance myself to find out where the money is, but I don't want to mess things up with me calling. if I called would it be ok or would that just slow things down even more?
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