Final Divorce Agreement 2 : The Life Insurance Policy

(Remember that I am not a lawyer, this is purely from my personal experience. You should check with a lawyer before you act)

My final agreement includes that my ex has to obtain a life insurance policy.

It makes sense, really. If he were to die, then my child wouldn't get any child support from him (however small it is). So the idea of the life insurance is that it would give my child the money in liu of child support.

But you have to do it right. And not just hope it gets done right, you have to put it in the agreement in such a way that you know it will get done in a correct and timely manner.

1) My child is the beneficiary.

This is a given. If the money is for her, it should go to her.

2) I am the trustee.

Sometimes they call the trustee something else, but it all comes down to the same thing. The money is entrusted with you. After all, the beneficiary is a minor.

This is a very very important step. Could you imagine what would happen if I wasn't the trustee? Simply put: I wouldn't want to have to go through someone else to get the money.

3) I put in a clause that will make sure this gets done.

Without going into too much details, we agreed to put in a clause that he would get one of the things he wanted in the agreement only after he correctly secured the insurance.


4) The insurance has to be at least $200,000, kept until my child is 18 years old.


Things I wish I had put in:

1) The court ended up having to specify to my ex that I should be able to have continued access to the policy to make sure that it is kept up and correct. It was a pain, he was fighting it, and I had to get the court to clear this issue up. We were in court for something else, but I brought this up and they clarified.

2) I wish I had put in a clause that spelled out what would happen if the policy was ever neglected or incorrect. Something that would stop us from having to go back to court in the case that that happened.