Is this Fraud? IRA Beneficiary with False name and relationship?

[AFriendOfOurs]

What is the name of your state? Arkansas

My Father's live-in girlfriend coerced him into changing the beneficiary to his IRA approx. 3 months before his death. However, she misrepresented herself on the beneficiary designation as my Dad's wife & said her name was Mrs. X and relationship was "spouse". They are not married and there is no recognition of common-law wife in that state. However, my Dad did sign the document. He was very passive and did not read documents and was bullied into going to the financial institution in the first place.
Is this document still legal? Do we as his children have any recourse to say that the ira beneficiary designation form is invalid and should not be honored by the bank because of fraudulent information contained on the doucment?

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Arkansas

My Father's live-in girlfriend coerced him into changing the beneficiary to his IRA approx. 3 months before his death. However, she misrepresented herself on the beneficiary designation as my Dad's wife & said her name was Mrs. X and relationship was "spouse". They are not married and there is no recognition of common-law wife in that state. However, my Dad did sign the document. He was very passive and did not read documents and was bullied into going to the financial institution in the first place.
Is this document still legal? Do we as his children have any recourse to say that the ira beneficiary designation form is invalid and should not be honored by the bank because of fraudulent information contained on the doucment?

Answer this question: Was pa competent when he did all this?

 

[AFriendOfOurs]

He would probably be deemed competent - but was definitely coerced/blackmailed. He was sick with lung cancer that may/may not have went to his brain at that time. He had earlier told us kids that he needed our SSN's to make us the beneficiaries. The live-in girlfriend has a fraudulent history for suing/scamming and ex-prisoner kids that threatened Dad with filing false charges (i.e. we will say you molested our daughter unless you give me $5,000.00 to pay my bail/probation fees). We tried to convince Dad that they could do nothing to him - but he was scared of the live-in & her kids & did not want his good name slander with false accusations - so he passively went along & just gave up. The live-in - only a couple months/weeks before his death took out life ins. policies, forced him to change beneficiaries & tried to force him to marry her - but he never did marry her thank goodness. These people are the lowest of the lowest & she has a reputation for suing people/business, getting false disabiltiy claims & hasn't worked in years.

 

[seniorjudge]

He would probably be deemed competent - but was definitely coerced/blackmailed. He was sick with lung cancer that may/may not have went to his brain at that time. He had earlier told us kids that he needed our SSN's to make us the beneficiaries. The live-in girlfriend has a fraudulent history for suing/scamming and ex-prisoner kids that threatened Dad with filing false charges (i.e. we will say you molested our daughter unless you give me $5,000.00 to pay my bail/probation fees). We tried to convince Dad that they could do nothing to him - but he was scared of the live-in & her kids & did not want his good name slander with false accusations - so he passively went along & just gave up. The live-in - only a couple months/weeks before his death took out life ins. policies, forced him to change beneficiaries & tried to force him to marry her - but he never did marry her thank goodness. These people are the lowest of the lowest & she has a reputation for suing people/business, getting false disabiltiy claims & hasn't worked in years.

Hire a lawyer and sue her. However, don't expect much since pa was competent when he did all this.

 

[fairisfair]

are you SURE he never married her?

 

[AFriendOfOurs]

Absolutely sure he never married her - we have checked courthouse records & when I asked him if he wanted to marry her - his answer was I quote "Hell no, I will never marry that woman" He was scared of her & her kids - they are all criminals & he felt trapped - he tried to throw them all out several times - but they held the idea of false accusations over his head. He finally just gave up & went into a deep depression - but us kids could not get him to leave his house - we tried!! He refused to leave his house & she blackmailed him to let her stay. He hated her & would never marry her.

I was just hoping that legally the latest beneficiary form could be thrown out because of obvious false information - Dad only had and 8th grade education & most likely did not even know the meaning of primary beneficiary & secondary beneficiaries. If her legal name is Jane Doe & she is on the beneficiary form as Jane Smith with "spouse" and she is not a spouse - would that be enough to challenge this - even is Dad signed without even reading the thing?

 

[Dandy Don]

If you make a complaint now to the company holding the IRA and inform them of what she has done, they have their own attorneys who can review whether her actions are legal and permissible or probably will be illegal and inappropriate and they will probably withhold payment until a legal decision can be made. In the meantime you can consult with a local attorney or paralegal to get the case law reviewed to see where you might stand.

You also need to talk to your father's doctors to see if he would have been under the influence of medications that may have affected his judgment. Did he leave a will and are there other assets besides the insurance policies?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)

 

[AFriendOfOurs]

Thanks

Thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate everything. He had no will when he passed - us kids have all learned a valuable lesson. We will get a lawyer & we will challenge the bogus beneficiary document she forced him to sign after he was ill.