No one wants to think about their own demise, so life insurance is often a chore that we procrastinate doing or rush into without much thought just get it done. However, when used as a tool to secure a former spouse’s alimony obligations after his or her death, we want our collaborative professionals to know the ins and outs to protect us. Members of CDANJ recently participated in an eye opening discussion highlighting the 7 common life and disability insurance mistakes made by attorneys in negotiating divorce settlements.
Host, Scott Schroeder of Alimony Protection Group LLC, discussed the perils of:
1. Not independently verifying the status of existing Life and disability insurance policies;
2. Not determining if the supporting spouse is able to qualify for new Life and disability insurance coverage if needed;
3. Not determining the proper amount of Life and disability insurance coverage to secure the alimony and support payment obligations;
4. Not obtaining the correct type of Life and disability insurance policies to secure the alimony and support payment obligations;
5. Not implementing the proper ownership structure of the Life and disability insurance policies to maximize tax benefits and protect beneficiaries.
6. Not changing the beneficiary designations on existing Life and disability insurance policies after the divorce is finalized;
7. Not providing the supported spouse with ongoing access to relevant Life and disability policy information.
Scott then shared his expertise in how to avoid these mistakes so as to provide a higher degree of comfort and security to collaborative clients. Scott’s focus was to shift the life insurance discussion from a last minute detail to a regular part of our collaborative discussions. Knowing what insurance a family has and what is needed after a divorce can be eye opening. Scott helped our professionals recognize a common problem in divorce negotiation and reframe the issue moving forward. The more knowledge and tools our collaborative professionals have to find peaceful resolutions to family conflict, the more readily they can assist in creating settlements that protect families.