CP child support & insurance

[rm1759]

What is the name of your state? FL

I have some questions about child support and life insurance.

CP mother is sick, possibly terminal. Should she pass away, the NCP father (me) would get custody of the minor child (no other children). There is a support order with the NCP as the obligor. When the NCP gets custody, is the estate responsible for her portion of the child support amount? If the child receives SS survivor's benefits, would the estate then only be responsible for the CS obligation less the amount of SS?

The CO contains a provision for life insurance (around $80,000, ) be maintained by both parents with the child as irrevocable beneficiary. I believe the beneficiary has been changed to the mother's mother. Would the child have a claim to this insurance policy? The wording in the court order is a little confusing to me, here it is:

"The mother shall maintain an $80,000 life insurance policy naming the minor child as sole irrevocable beneficiary for so long as it is reasonbly available through her employment. In the event the Mother defaults on her obligation to maintain life insurance to secure her child support obligation, the father shall be entitled to an equitable lien against her probate estate, trust of any nature whatsoever and/or life insurance policy naming another party as beneficiary."

 

[seniorjudge]

"...There is a support order with the NCP as the obligor...."

When CP passes, NCP assumes all (100%) of the child support obligations. You need to inform the court of this, of course.

I think you are asking if the child inherits from the mother. The child should, unless there are other things here we do not know about.

The wording in the judgment in the lawsuit seems to give you a lot of clout.

Make sure you hire a lawyer; it appears that it will be worth it to your child.

 

[nextwife]

I think the poster is asking, as he is responsible to support the child while with the current CP, if the ESTATE has an equivilant responsibility for future support of this child when he becomes the CP- BEFORE the estate should be distributing to anyone else besides the child. After all, most divorce decrees require that the NCP carry insurance to cover the future CS need of the CP, to continue to support the child after the death of the obligor. As he will be the CP, what is his right from the estate for future support needs (as opposed to money stashed for the child to use themselves someday).

 

[seniorjudge]

After CP dies, the judgment in the lawsuit is null.

The estate has no duty to support the child. The right to child support is not something you can inherit.

The child may or may not inherit from the estate.

 

[BlondiePB]

Let me take a "stab" at this which will repeat some of the previous replies.

CP mother is sick, possibly terminal. Should she pass away, the NCP father (me) would get custody of the minor child (no other children). There is a support order with the NCP as the obligor. When the NCP gets custody, is the estate responsible for her portion of the child support amount?

No because, as previously stated, child support ends.

If the child receives SS survivor's benefits, would the estate then only be responsible for the CS obligation less the amount of SS?

Again, child support is not taken from the estate. Father will become Representative Payee for minor's SS survivor benefits from deceased mother and have to put funds in trust for the child and provide SS an annual accounting report.

The CO contains a provision for life insurance (around $80,000, ) be maintained by both parents with the child as irrevocable beneficiary. I believe the beneficiary has been changed to the mother's mother. Would the child have a claim to this insurance policy? The wording in the court order is a little confusing to me, here it is:

"The mother shall maintain an $80,000 life insurance policy naming the minor child as sole irrevocable beneficiary for so long as it is reasonbly available through her employment. In the event the Mother defaults on her obligation to maintain life insurance to secure her child support obligation, the father shall be entitled to an equitable lien against her probate estate, trust of any nature whatsoever and/or life insurance policy naming another party as beneficiary."

Should the beneficiary have been changed, this wording affords the OP to claim the insurance policy that must be placed in trust for the child (guardianship of estate of the minor child). Should there not be an insurance policy due to the failure of it being maintained by the child's mother, the father has the right to place a claim against the child's deceased mother estate for $80,000.00. That money will also be placed in trust or in a guardianship of the estate of the minor child, along with any other money the child inherits should there be anything to inherit.

 

[rm1759]

Thanks!

Thank you all for your quick replies.

OK, I understand that the estate will not be responsible for any child support.

1) In regards to the SS survivor's benefits, would I have to place all of this money into a fund for my child? Can any of it be used for her current support/expenses. If that is the case (I thought I had read somewhere that it was) then how is it determined how much is used for support, and how much will go into the trust?

2) Also, I would assume this is reported as income for my child, how is it taxed? If some is used for support, then would that be counted as income for me, and therefore taxed at my tax rate?

3) Will I be allowed to establish the trust and the rules? If she gets the insurance, and all of the social security, that could come to a significant amount of money, I would rather not have her get a huge check when she is 18, it would make more sense if I was able to set up the trust to allow her to get some of it at 18, then she can use the fund to pay for college, then perhaps as a down payment for a house at 25, and the balance when she gets to be 30 or so, can I make rules for the trust like this?

4) How is the trust taxed? When the money is deposited, and the fund created, or when the disbursements are made, I would assume that the disbursements would count as income on my child's return...

 

[seniorjudge]

You have two issues here:

What is to be done with the SS funds

and

What is to be done with the life insurance funds.

Is there, in fact, a life insurance policy on CP?

 

[rm1759]

I believe so

I believe there is, through her employer. I know before the settlement, she did, and she is still employed at the same company, with the same job, although she has not been at work much in the past 2 years (I estimate she has worked 2-3 weeks in the last 2 years, she's been on disability from her employer) due to her illness. However, I believe the CP has named her mother as the beneficiary. (she also has a will where she has named her mother as the guardian of our child, but that is a different issue).

 

[BlondiePB]

I believe there is, through her employer. I know before the settlement, she did, and she is still employed at the same company, with the same job, although she has not been at work much in the past 2 years (I estimate she has worked 2-3 weeks in the last 2 years, she's been on disability from her employer) due to her illness. However, I believe the CP has named her mother as the beneficiary. (she also has a will where she has named her mother as the guardian of our child, but that is a different issue).

Parents are the natural guardians of their children. Unless there is some reason your child should not be placed in your custody, grandmother can just bite rocks.

You need to see an Estate attorney who will go over all this (irrevocable trust, guardian of the estate of your minor child, SS survivor benefits for the child, SS Representative Payee, etc.) and begin making preparations for the demise of your child's mother.

 

[rm1759]

Wow

Wow, that sounds so depressing. This will be such a difficult time for my little girl. I've been taking her to counseling to talk about her mother being so sick, I can't imagine how it will be if the worst comes to pass.

Do I really need to get in touch with the estate attorney now? It seems to me like I should wait until something actually happens, there is always the chance the mother will pull through (she's been bedridden for 4 months now, but she told me she should be "up and back to normal in 3 weeks", they have not told me what exactly is going on).

If so, are there any good resources on the web for finding a good one?

Edit:
Also, I have spoken with my family law attorney regarding the guardianship issue, and I believe I have all of the bases covered on that front.

 

[BlondiePB]

Wow, that sounds so depressing. This will be such a difficult time for my little girl. I've been taking her to counseling to talk about her mother being so sick, I can't imagine how it will be if the worst comes to pass.

Do I really need to get in touch with the estate attorney now? It seems to me like I should wait until something actually happens, there is always the chance the mother will pull through (she's been bedridden for 4 months now, but she told me she should be "up and back to normal in 3 weeks", they have not told me what exactly is going on).

If so, are there any good resources on the web for finding a good one?

The best case scenario would be for your little girl's mother to "be up and back to normal". Taking her to counceling to help her deal with this is great. Are you getting counceling to help yourself help your daughter too? If not, do so. Should she lose her mother, she will be devasted and you'll have to catch her. While your at an Estate attorney, have your own affairs put in order and/or updated. Typically, the best attorneys are found word of mouth by others.