Can a person who has been named the beneficiary be made to split it four ways with brothers and sisters?

Answer 1

Respectfully, if all 5 Siblings are listed as beneficiaries this would be true. If only one is listed than only that one would be the beneficiary as this is a legal binding contract. If the beneficiary was listed in a manner like "All children born of said insured" than it would include all but exclude any adopted. So if there were adopted children than it would need to read "All children of said insured" but this is very open-ended as it may bring out some false claims of mystery children if the proceeds were big enough so in that case it may be best to list all the children by name. 4lifeguild If there are 5 siblings in a family, each is a beneficiary. If you meant that you were name Executor of the will, then that person ensures the wishes of the deceased person is carried out. If all the money was left to you alone and not the other siblings and it states that in the will, then you do not have to split the money. If you want to keep a good relationship with your siblings, then you may consider spliting it equally. Family and relationships are worth more than money. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneficiary Respectfully, this may be true in that there may have been some past challenges in court cases, but if a judge rules against a legal binding contract such as a Life Insurance Policy than we really need to question the effectiveness of our judicial system! If it goes to probate and the judge says so, that's what will happen. If the person is named as the only beneficiary then the answer is no. That is a contractual agreement so it will hold in court (assuming this is the US) If the beneficiary is listed with any kind of split, or co-benficiary than yes, you must, again, contractually. 4lifeguild.com