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What happens to your finances in a "thought you were dead" situation?
Posted on 7/12/19 at 12:33 pm
Posted on 7/12/19 at 12:33 pm
Thought about posting on teh OT but I'm sure I wouldnt' get any real answers. I have no idea why I randomly thought about this and to be clear, no..I am not trying to fake my own death.
In this hypothetical let's pretend you were a survivor of a plane that crashed on a remote island after it lost radio contact. They search a while and give up after the appropriate amount of time (however long that is, year, 2 years, whatever). At this point all your money has gone where it's gonna go. Life insurance paid to your wife, all your retirement accounts through work given to the beneficiaries, your savings accounts left to the wife, etc. At this point you on paper own nothing and have zero dollars, because officially you are presumed dead. So now let's say it's been 5 years and a plane sees some fire on your island and you're rescued. Hooray! When you return home and get back to normal life, what happens to all that money that switched hands? Any kind of life insurance paid to your spouse, do they have to write a check back?
In this hypothetical let's pretend you were a survivor of a plane that crashed on a remote island after it lost radio contact. They search a while and give up after the appropriate amount of time (however long that is, year, 2 years, whatever). At this point all your money has gone where it's gonna go. Life insurance paid to your wife, all your retirement accounts through work given to the beneficiaries, your savings accounts left to the wife, etc. At this point you on paper own nothing and have zero dollars, because officially you are presumed dead. So now let's say it's been 5 years and a plane sees some fire on your island and you're rescued. Hooray! When you return home and get back to normal life, what happens to all that money that switched hands? Any kind of life insurance paid to your spouse, do they have to write a check back?
5
Posted on 7/12/19 at 12:51 pm to WG_Dawg
quote:
In this hypothetical let's pretend you were a survivor of a plane that crashed on a remote island after it lost radio contact. They search a while and give up after the appropriate amount of time (however long that is, year, 2 years, whatever). At this point all your money has gone where it's gonna go. Life insurance paid to your wife, all your retirement accounts through work given to the beneficiaries, your savings accounts left to the wife, etc. At this point you on paper own nothing and have zero dollars, because officially you are presumed dead. So now let's say it's been 5 years and a plane sees some fire on your island and you're rescued. Hooray! When you return home and get back to normal life, what happens to all that money that switched hands? Any kind of life insurance paid to your spouse, do they have to write a check back?
This is like the plot of Castaway
Reality - You receive a big arse settlement from the plane company and live out the rest of your single arse life as a baller
Posted on 7/12/19 at 1:04 pm to WG_Dawg
I know its hypothetical but 5 years is a LONG time to survive alone on an island. Should make tons of money off of book and movie deals.
Posted on 7/12/19 at 1:11 pm to WG_Dawg
quote:
Life insurance paid to your wife,
This happened in the TV show “manifest.” The insurnace company sent a letter asking for the money back as well. However it’s just TV.
In real life, the insurance company has the right to investigate means of death if happened within 2 years of application. But in this situation I’m sure they would sue to get the money back and it would go to court since there likely not any precedent for something like this happening. Courts would decide from there.
This post was edited on 7/12/19 at 1:12 pm
Posted on 7/12/19 at 1:12 pm to Shepherd88
quote:
But in this situation I’m sure they would sue to get the money back and it would go to court since there likely not any precedent for something like this happening. Courts would decide from there.
that's what I assumed and that woudl really suck. I'm sure the spouse would have paid a lot towards the mortgage, clothes, school for the kids, and any number of other normal everyday things over the years. That would be a real gut punch to have to just write a check to give it all back. Understandable of course, but shitty.
Posted on 7/12/19 at 10:09 pm to WG_Dawg
I would think there would be a settlement to return some of the money but not all.
Posted on 7/14/19 at 9:44 am to WG_Dawg
quote:
that's what I assumed and that woudl really suck. I'm sure the spouse would have paid a lot towards the mortgage, clothes, school for the kids, and any number of other normal everyday things over the years. That would be a real gut punch to have to just write a check to give it all back. Understandable of course, but shitty.
If your scenario actually happened, it would be a major news story and the survivor would likely become an international hero
There is no chance an insurance company would try to recoup the money already paid out it would be a PR nightmare 
Posted on 7/14/19 at 2:32 pm to WG_Dawg
I always wondered how it would play out if they found Scott Speicher alive in Iraq in the mid-2000s after he was declared missing then dead in the Gulf War.
I know another person who was really wondering about it was his best friend "Buddy" Harris who married his wife like a year after he got shot down.
I know another person who was really wondering about it was his best friend "Buddy" Harris who married his wife like a year after he got shot down.
Posted on 7/14/19 at 8:07 pm to TopFlightSecurity
Listened to a podcast (?planet money? Maybe) where they discussed people who were accidentally marked as dead by Social Security Admin. Sounded effing horrible. Couldn’t get your own money out of the bank, etc. Was hard getting it overturned too
Posted on 7/15/19 at 7:38 am to TopFlightSecurity
quote:
was his best friend "Buddy" Harris who married his wife like a year after he got shot down.
Whoa that was quick.
Posted on 7/15/19 at 9:36 am to WG_Dawg
I read an article about a year ago in the Wall Street Journal and it’s crazy how often this happens. Car goes off a cliff, someone breaks their neck biking, or has a heart attack kayaking and aren’t found for a long time, if ever.
It’s a complete mess for the family. Aside from the obvious collecting on the life insurance you can’t sell the house, cars, convert/cash retirement accounts. Also getting people declared dead is very hard to do because of the number of fraud and abandonment cases that exist.
It’s a complete mess for the family. Aside from the obvious collecting on the life insurance you can’t sell the house, cars, convert/cash retirement accounts. Also getting people declared dead is very hard to do because of the number of fraud and abandonment cases that exist.
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