Life Insurance & Divorce
Why You Should Be Talking About Life Insurance During Your Divorce
When a divorce includes provisions for alimony or child support, it is a common practice to include an agreement stating that the supporting spouse should have a life insurance policy. This can guarantee that the child will still be provided for in the event that the supporting parent suffers an untimely death.
You can also include a provision in your divorce agreement stating that, if your ex-spouse changes the beneficiary designation or they allow the policy to lapse, you and/or your children would be entitled to a portion of your ex-spouse’s estate equal in value to the death benefit of the insurance policy.
How Long Will the Life Insurance Policy Be Maintained?
The amount of time the policy is maintained will depend on what the policy is intended for. If the life insurance policy is meant to provide financial security for a minor child, it can usually be terminated once the dependent child reaches the age of 21 in New York.
The supporting parent can maintain the policy beyond their child’s formative years if they so choose. If the life insurance policy is meant to guarantee alimony or a property settlement, it can be maintained for as long as the alimony payments are required, or until the business value is transferred.
Call Lois M. Brenner, Esq. to Learn More About Your Options
Lois M. Brenner, Esq., a highly acclaimed divorce lawyer, seasoned litigator, accredited mediator and psychologically trained medical professional, has been serving and protecting families throughout New York for more than three decades. She has even been featured as a family law expert on television programs like Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and CNN – just to name a few.
If you need help protecting your family’s financial security, call our team at Lois M. Brenner, Esq. today. You can schedule your initial consultation by calling (646) 663-4546.
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High-net-worth divorce is complicated. Lois handled mine with a level of sophistication and discretion that exceeded every expectation. She protected my business and my future.- B.M.
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My contested divorce was brutal. Lois never flinched. She was strategic, on top of every detail, and always made me feel like I was her only client. I'm grateful every day.- T.R.
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Lois Brenner, her colleagues, team of experts and staff are phenominal. I hired them to help me to see my son who had been taken out of state by my wife during this insane pandemic. She decided to take him to stay with family but then she sideswiped me with a divorce. I was devastated. Lois Brenner and her litigation partner fought for me and made it possible for me to see my son. They are handling my divorce now and their strength and support is getting me through a really tough time. They are smart, tough and highly experienced.
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“No words can express what you have done for our family!”- Ken
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Connecting with Lois was the best thing that could have happened during what has been very difficult and fraught divorce. Lois took on my case with knowledge, wisdom and care that have been above and beyond in every way. She recognized abusive and unstable behavior in my ex-husband, and offered both strong legal guidance, as well as personal encouragement and strength to stand up to him. Her support has been invaluable to me, and I am so deeply grateful for everything she has done in helping forge a better more stable future for me and for my son.- SC
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Lois was an absolute pleasure to work with. She worked on a prenuptial agreement for me. Our very first conversation put me at ease. She was interested in my upcoming marriage and wedding. She assured me the prenuptial agreement could be drafted quickly. She made intelligent recommendations to address some of my complex financial decisions. She also made sound suggestions to protect my multi-million dollar portfolio. Our wedding is coming up and will be a lot smaller than we originally thought due to COVID-19, but Lois Brenner got our prenuptial agreement done in time, and made it a lot more pleasurable experience than I thought it would be. I would recommend Lois to anyone seeking a truly skilled attorney to draft their prenuptial agreement.- Glen Mearns
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We have Lois Brenner to thank for turning our marriage around. We hired Lois as our mediator when we were considering divorce. When we started working with her and she realized we wanted to try to keep our marriage together she suggested a postnuptial agreement to get our marriage back on track. Having the postnuptial agreement made us both accountable when it came to our issues. Having this doc in place is clearly helping us redefine our marriage in a better way. I don’t know if we will never get divorced, but for now we are respecting each others’ boundaries and are aware of the consequences if we don’t! It was really cool that Ms. Brenner suggested this method as an option. Most divorce attorneys would not have suggested a way for us to try to stay together. She is very talented and unusual in the best possible way. If we choose to take the divorce path eventually we will definitely hire her again. In the meantime we are making it work. She is amazing.- Joseph M
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Everything you said about mediation was true. My husband and I really connected in a positive way working out the details of our divorce in mediation with you. The arguing was endless but we finally heard each other. You have a lot of patience. The property discussions made everything so emotional. You kept us focused and stopped us from rehashing the past. We tell everyone about you. Hopefully none of our friends will divorce but if they do we will tell them they need you.- Tom & Philip R.