Divorce and the Importance of Life Insurance

 Posted on July 25, 2012 in Child Custody

An important aspect of every divorce is the division of property, especially when custody of children is considered. While dividing properties and assets like money seems easier, it is difficult to consider aspects such as life insurance. Yet it is increasingly important to protect the future of any children the ex-spouse pays alimony to with some long term life insurance. This is in case the alimony responsibility is not fulfilled before the parent passes away.

Before you sign any type of divorce agreement make sure you and your attorney have discussed including life insurance coverage into your agreement. As you discuss this please keep three things in mind. The first thing to remember if you are including health insurance in an agreement is to make sure it is enough to really help secure your future. Any death benefit should pay off your current mortgage, the cost of educating your children, and credit card debt. This will alleviate missing an alimony payment over the term of the agreement.

The second thing to consider is the premium payment. If your ex-spouse lapses on their premium payment, then there will probably lose their coverage and need to reapply. To stop any surprises like this from coming up in the future, there are steps you can take today. Have your agreement include a change to your spouse's policy to notify you if any payment is not received. That will be an important safeguard to eliminate surprises.

The final thing to reflect upon is what might happen to your children's future if your ex-spouse changes the beneficiary of their insurance. Since the owner of the policy can make any changes to the policy itself, make sure your agreement make you the owner of the policy. If this is not a possible outcome, then talk to your attorney to ascertain what legal action is available to you if something like this happened.

All of this advice can help you move through this next phase of your life. But nothing will help you more than the legal advice of a dedicated family law attorney. If divorce is a new journey in your life, then the attorney will be the guide. If you are thinking about divorcing your spouse, please contact our office to speak to a skilled Chicago divorce attorney to find the next steps.