Just a little thing

[oklahoma]

It seems that every week I have some different thing that I obsess over....

This week it is the clause in our divorce decree that requires my ex-husband to carry life insurance for the benefit of the children.  At the time it was written, my husband had a policy in the specified amount, but with me listed as the beneficiary.  I know that has changed, since he remarried less than a month later, and I am fairly certain he cancelled the policy altogether.

Is there any way I can compel him to provide proof of life insurance (without going to court)?  He is a high-risk type of person, and I would like to make sure my kids are taken care of if he kills himself jumping out of a plane or driving his truck or walking across the street.  (I just spent the last 5 years putting him through school--yeah, he dumped me in his last semester of law school--so I don't have a lot of resources right now.)

[mistoffolees]

>It seems that every week I have some different thing that I
>obsess over....
>
>This week it is the clause in our divorce decree that requires
>my ex-husband to carry life insurance for the benefit of the
>children.  At the time it was written, my husband had a policy
>in the specified amount, but with me listed as the
>beneficiary.  I know that has changed, since he remarried less
>than a month later, and I am fairly certain he cancelled the
>policy altogether.
>
>Is there any way I can compel him to provide proof of life
>insurance (without going to court)?  He is a high-risk type of
>person, and I would like to make sure my kids are taken care
>of if he kills himself jumping out of a plane or driving his
>truck or walking across the street.  (I just spent the last 5
>years putting him through school--yeah, he dumped me in his
>last semester of law school--so I don't have a lot of
>resources right now.)

Do you know who he had the insurance with before? You could ask them if they still carry the insurance in your name. Technically, they're not supposed to give this information out even to the beneficiary, but they often will if you ask nicely. You might even take your divorce decree to the agency to show them.

Second option - how much insurance is involved and what is his age? Term insurance isn't terribly expensive if he's still young. It might be cheaper to pay it yourself than to go to court over it. For example, I purchased a 10 year term policy at age 40 for something like $40 per month for $200 K in insurance. $500 per year is a heck of a lot cheaper than a court battle. He would need to agree to this, but if you're paying the premiums, he might not care.

Final suggestion is that you could play hardball with him. If he's a new lawyer just starting out, he can't afford to mess up. Contrary to popular opinion, the legal profession does enforce its ethics rules. I would assume that he has some life insurance at work. You could send him a very nice letter saying that you haven't seen the proof of life insurance that he's supposed to provide and will therefore have to send his employer a copy of your divorce decree and ask to be named as the beneficiary on his employer's policy unless he gives you the documentation you need. The advantage here is that you set the stage by sending the message that he WILL abide by your divorce decree. The downside is that you would have to check the laws in your state to see if this threat would be considered interference in his employment.