No.
No, the spouse is not. The beneficiary is named. There are laws that require the spouse to sign an acknowledgement that there is life insurance that she is not the beneficiary of.
The owner of the policy can change the beneficiary of the policy. If the original beneficiary has died before the insured, the owner of the policy can designate a new beneficiary at any time.
No, if she was the named beneficiary the benefits belongs to her, and she has no legal responsibility for the deceased's children.
In Georgia, as in most states, life insurance proceeds to a named beneficiary become the property of the beneficiary and are therefore not accessible to the creditors of the decedent. Of course, this does not apply to joint debt between the spouses or any debt solely in the name of the surviving spouse. In short, if the surviving spouse's name is not on the debt of the decedent, the surviving spouse has no legal obligation to pay such debt.
You can name anyone as beneficiary.
No. The contingency that triggers payment of a life insurance is the death of the named insured. That person could have changed the beneficiary designation prior to his/her death. Even if the policy had given the power to change the beneficiary to another person, the change would have had to be exercised before the named insured dies.
In rare cases, a person will make a close friend or relative the beneficiary of their life insurance policy instead of their spouse.
No. The beneficiary is whoever is specifically named on the policy.
who collects the life insurance in a marriage when one spouse dies and theres no beneficiary on file
Your spouse can get a separate policy (usually cheaper) or you can contact your insurance company to get the right paperwork for adding your spouse. Adding your spouse as a beneficiary, your agent can help.
If the life insurance policy had listed as the beneficiary the spouse only then it is not considered part of the estate and is not subject to claims. If the beneficiary is the estate then it is subject to claims. The only problem with the spouse being the only beneficiary is if she was a party to the claims personally then perhaps she and the proceeds from the life insurance could be subject to these claims.
Yes, if the owner of the policy does not file a change of beneficiary the insurance will have to pay the proceeds to the person who is named on the policy.