Life Insurance Payout to Minor (Indiana) repost from r/legaladvice in case anyone in here may be able to help

[muabannhadat678]

Hello all. I am looking for advice on life insurance payouts and trusts. I just want to make sure that the lawyer that is being gone through is not trying to pull a fast one on anyone. I live in IN for reference.

Some back story. On March 1st of this year my daughter's (6) father was in a car accident and passed away. He had life insurance and accidental death added to it. My daughter and his other son were the only beneficiaries for this insurance as he had not added his new wife to the policy yet. Not long after he passed she met with a lawyer about a wrongful death suit and taking care of figuring out the life insurance if needed. We have signed paperwork allowing him to represent her and the kids in the suit. He has stated that the only way the settlement money and life insurance money can be paid out is if it is put into a trust account that he will set up and be the guardian over. At least this is how it has been explained to me. He also informed us that the only way anyone other than my daughter can touch this money (when she turns 18) is if we petition the court with any recipes that will be needed to prove that the funds will be used for her (medical bills ect).

So my questions are: 1) Is this the only way to get the life insurance payout? 2) Does he have to be the guardian of the trust account or can someone else be set as the guardian?

I want this money put back for her college and living expenses to make her future as easy as possible, but I just want to make sure what he is saying is correct as I did not realize that the lawyer had to be the guardian of the account. I do understand why they would want to protect the money for a minor but it also seems weird to me that I would have to struggle to pay a medical bill for her in the hopes that the court will let me have access to the account to pay this bill back. I also want to make sure he is not setting up this account so in the future, when something is needing petitioned for or she needs access early for whatever reason, he won't be skimming even more money off the top of what he is already being paid for the settlement.

I am sorry if this all seems confusing as I am still confused by all of this as well. I would be happy to answer any questions in the comments as well!

 

[dinkold]

@muabannhadat678 I would suggest that you contact a trust attorney in your area to discuss this. In my experience, I would expect that you would be the most likely trustee for your daughter and his son's mother or father (is that the new wife?) would be the most likely trustee for his portion of the proceeds. You might also reach out to the life insurance company (I expect you have standing as the guardian of one of the benes) and see what their requirements are. Having an attorney as trustee over a small sum of money is going to be expensive in relation to the money managed.

Also asking in r/EstatePlanning will get you answers to your questions from actual practicing EP/Trst attorneys.

 

[honeybee81]

@muabannhadat678 Someone else, including you, can be the guardian. You need guardianship or conservatorship (I don't remember which word Indiana uses) of the minor's financial estate, which is a separate process from anything involving custody etc. It has to be approved by a judge and yes, there will probably be some oversight of how the money is spent. But it doesn't have to be the lawyer, that's bullshit.