The internet is outraged by a man refusing to share his brother’s life insurance with his family.
In a viral Reddit post, u/Foreign-Appearance40 explained that his 42-year-old brother passed away in a car accident a few months ago and left the original poster as the beneficiary of his pension, despite being married.
Now there is a family feud as the brother, who is referred to as Jay, hasn’t left the employer-sponsored pension and life insurance for his wife, Mary, 40, twin daughters, and step-children.
Newsweek reached out to an expert who urges people to spend 15 minutes per year updating their policies to avoid scenarios like this.
On April 8, the 40-year-old brother turned to the internet to explain why he didn’t want to share the money. He stated he settled down with his wife Brittany, 42, early on and dropped out of college. By contrast, Jay was the “golden child” who got “a full ride to a prestigious college” and went to grad school.
He said: “Jay always made good money, but wasn’t lucky in love. He was very picky and while he had some longer 1-2 year relationships, he was looking for perfection before getting married.”
He said Jay married mom-of-two Mary in 2019 and they both sold their respective properties to purchase a large family home together when they discovered she was pregnant.
However “financial struggles” prevented the original poster and his wife from starting a family as they live paycheck to paycheck in a one-bed apartment.
So he plans on using the $150,000 inheritance from his brother’s life insurance to fulfill their dream of becoming parents.
“The 401(k) is much more substantial. He set it up that way years ago before Mary was in the picture and never changed it,” he said.
He said Mary inherited her husband’s side of the house and $50,000 from their joint savings account. However, this isn’t enough for her to pay for their home, and childcare and help the older kids who are 18 and 19 with their college fees.
“I told her it’s not my fault. If he wanted to change the beneficiary, he should have done that. But he didn’t so now the money is mine. My wife and I plan to use the money to buy a home and finally start a family. She says her husband’s money should go to his children, but she doesn’t see that me using the money to have my own children is more important,” said the brother.
He said he offered to put $50,000 in a trust for his one-year-old nieces but Mary insists she needs the “money now.”
He said: “They said the life insurance would pay off their mortgage and the boys’ college and put money away for the girls’ future, and her income would cover the rest so they wouldn’t have to move. But what about my family?”
‘He Might Have Some Regrets’
The owner of a life insurance agency in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, spoke to Newsweek about the post with 6,600 upvotes.
“Issues like these are more common than most people realize. Updating beneficiaries on your life insurance, retirement accounts, and other financial products are often overlooked and can lead to disastrous results,” said Matt Schmidt.
Schmidt, the owner of Diabetes Life Solutions explained that by law, companies have to pay death benefits and any amounts in retirement accounts to the named beneficiary that is currently listed.
“This is a textbook example as to why you should spend 15 minutes a year, and make sure all your policies have up-to-date beneficiaries listed.
“As far as the right thing to do in situations like this, everyone will have a different opinion and viewpoint. In this situation, I would have recommended that the beneficiary split everything 50-50 with the sister-in-law.
“Other insurance agents or advisors might have recommended giving all the proceeds to the family. This gentleman will have to live with his decision on this financial matter, and he might have some regrets should he hold onto all of the money.”
‘Greedy and Morally Wrong’
The viral post has racked up 4,500 comments and the top comment alone has 34,900 upvotes so far.
One user said: “YTA. Yeah. Your life sucks but there is no world in which your brother would not have wanted to take care of his wife and their children. You’re exploiting a lapse of attention on his part to profit from his death. That’s just gross as hell.”
“Have to agree here. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which he would not want his own children to have the money and be cared for. He should have updated his affairs but didn’t. OP is greedy and morally wrong here, even if he is legally entitled to the money,” said another comment with 8,000 upvotes.
Newsweek reached out to u/Foreign-Appearance40 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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