A promise in a Georgia divorce agreement to keep life insurance for a former spouse or the children is enforceable, and it beats whatever name is later written on the policy’s beneficiary form.
The Beneficiary Named in the Agreement Wins
In Reeves v. Reeves, 236 Ga. 209 (1976), the incorporated agreement required a husband to maintain his existing policies, “which shall name the aforesaid minor children as the beneficiaries thereof.” He never named them, remarried, and named his new wife instead. The Georgia Supreme Court held that the children “acquired a vested interest in the proceeds of the insurance contracts as those contracts existed on the date of the entry of the court decree.” The widow received only the coverage he added afterward.
A Replacement Policy Counts
The obligation follows the coverage. In Whitehead v. Whitehead, 191 Ga. App. 330 (1989), the decree named a Prudential group policy, the employer later switched carriers, and the husband changed the beneficiary to his estate. The Court of Appeals held that the former wife’s vested interest “applied to the successor policy.”
If the Policy Lapses, the Estate Pays
In Gray v. Higgins, 205 Ga. App. 52 (1992), a husband agreed to keep a $25,000 policy current for his former wife. It lapsed in 1967, and he died in 1989. Even though the agreement named a specific policy number, the Court of Appeals held that the parties’ “true and paramount intent” was that a $25,000 policy be in force at his death. So the estate owed the face amount, not the missed premiums, and the claim arose at his death rather than at the lapse decades earlier.
If you made the promise, keep the coverage in force. If it was made to you, the proceeds are yours no matter whose name was put on the form later.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!