I wouldn’t pay the funeral home just yet. Talk to a lawyer who specializes in wills and estates. They will likely open a succession/probate proceeding with the court and get the life insurance paid into the estate. Assess other assets and debts of the deceased. Expenses of final illness, funeral expense, unpaid bills, etc. will be paid out of the succession. Anything left will go to aunt’s heirs. Heirs will be whoever is named in her will, if she had one, or (if no will) whichever relatives are entitled to inherit under the Alabama laws of intestate successions.

If your mom or whoever pays the funeral home now assuming they will get that back via the succession, they may not. Aunt may have willed her estate to the church or cat rescue or favorite nephew. But mom may have signed a contract with funeral home and taken on the responsibility personally, so that may obligate her to pay and hope for the best.

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Posted by LegendInMyMind

Member since Apr 2019

54914 posts

Posted on 4/8/22 at 6:48 pm to Twenty 49

quote:
Twenty 49

Thanks for the response.

There's no will. My aunt was never married and never had children. My Mom and her sister are the only surviving siblings. The only debt she has are some medical bills, and there's enough in the estate to cover those. There's also more than enough in her checking account to pay the funeral expenses, and my Mom is on the account.

This post was edited on 4/8/22 at 6:49 pm

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Posted by Sao

East Texas Piney Woods

Member since Jun 2009

65974 posts

Posted on 4/8/22 at 6:51 pm to LegendInMyMind

Hate to ask but was she on Medicaid

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Posted by LegendInMyMind

Member since Apr 2019

54914 posts

Posted on 4/8/22 at 6:58 pm to Sao

No. She went on Medicare a couple months ago. There was a gap of coverage when she had no health insurance when her company let her go a year shy of retirement. That's where the few medical bills come in.

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Posted by LegendInMyMind

Member since Apr 2019

54914 posts

Posted on 4/14/22 at 4:56 pm to LegendInMyMind

Update for anyone in Alabama who may face a similar situation:

So, the issue does, in fact, stem from my aunt not having a "living beneficiary". However, it would not be an issue at all if her life insurance policy had been $32,000.00 or less. It was $35,000.00. The, seemingly, arbitrary number of 32 being key in this issue as I guess in this state 32k or less doesn't require as many loopholes. Go figure.

The court order will be needed. It can be taken care of, we hope and were assured, by the estate lawyer who handled probate when my Pops died. My Mom and aunt meet with him tomorrow. He has said that the process for obtaining the court order isn't long (time wise), and once it is submitted the agency will release the funds to the estate. At that point the funds can be used for final expenses.

Once that happens it brings us back to the point we expected to be at now, beginning the process of putting the estate through probate. It is still possible they decide to pay the funeral costs from my aunt's checking account, but they want to speak with the lawyer first to be comfortable in doing so.

Fortunately, her 401k account has been a (mostly) less complicated matter.

Just thought I'd drop the update in case anyone faces a similar issue.

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Posted by LegendInMyMind

Member since Apr 2019

54914 posts

Posted on 4/15/22 at 2:49 pm to Lonnie Utah

quote:
Your going to have to reopen your grandmother's estate. I found a $10k policy my grandfather had during an unclaimed property search. (we have the same name.)

To collect, we had to reopen his estate.

We have a winner!

My grandmother's estate will have to be reopened and put through probate. My Mom and other aunt are suviving heirs. Their two brothers, my two uncles have passed. Which means that my Mom and aunt, along with both of my married-in aunts and their four grown children will have to sign agreement to forego their claim to the estate (essentially only the life insurance which is the only thing without a beneficiary designated).

All of this over $35,000 minus the funeral expenses. Go figure.

Folks......please take care of your affairs while you can. Oh, and if it had been no more than $32,000 none of this would be necessary.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

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