Can My Father Cash in a Life Insurance Policy Without Affecting My Mother's Medicaid?
My mother is in a nursing home here in California and is on Medi-Cal (Medicaid). My father...
Read moreYou are correct in asking the question two different ways, in terms of ownership and beneficiaries. In each case, there is no harm in making the trust the owner and beneficiary, but it also may not be necessary. Changing ownership to the trust would give your successor trustee control of the trust and the ability to borrow against any cash value in the policy. However, you may never want to make any changes to the policy or borrow anything against it and, in any case, your attorney-in-fact under your durable power of attorney should be able to take these steps if necessary. So changing ownership probably serves little purpose.
Changing the beneficiaries to the trust may or may not serve a greater purpose depending on the terms of your trust. If your trust will continue after your death for the benefit of your spouse or children and you would want all funds you leave to be protected and managed in the same way, then the trust should be named beneficiary. On the other hand, if your trust will be distributed outright upon your death and the trust and the life insurance policy have the same beneficiary or beneficiaries, then changing the beneficiary to the trust provides little or no benefit.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Your City
My mother is in a nursing home here in California and is on Medi-Cal (Medicaid). My father...
Read more
Deciding which type of life insurance to purchase can be a confusing process. Term life? Varia...
Read more
My wife is the owner of a life insurance policy on our daughter. Will the cash value of the life insurance be exempt from...
Read more
Older Americans with a life insurance policy that they no longer need have the option to sell the policy to investors. The...
Read moreMedicaid Rules, etc