I have been asked a few times on whether there’s a need to cancel all insurance policies when one decides to work overseas a few… Read More »Do You Need To Cancel Your Insurance Policies When Overseas Or Migrated?
If you have assets (e.g. whole life insurance, term insurance, savings deposits, etc) that you have intention to leave for certain someones (in mind) instead of having to go through the proper estate proceedings, it’s always good to do up (as soon as possible) your own Nomination either through a proper Nomination Form provided by Insurance Companies or engage a Lawyer to do up a Proper Will!
There could be certain consequences if you have accidentally left this planning out…
I know of two brothers whose parents are divorced since the elder brother was very young and his younger brother did not even know how his father looked like. So the mother had been the one raising them up.
Long story short… the mother fell sick and passed away… followed by the Elder Brother… and the younger brother has been the one paying off the medical debts (that’s why you need to have medical insurance to cover yourself) and other expenses over their last few years.
The mother and the elder brother had never done up any nominations and wills. And when it comes to the distribution of assets, the proper estate regulations have to be followed. But because the mother’s assets is less than $2000, it was written off as funeral expenses and the younger brother is able to claim back. But there was an issue with the elder brother’s assets because it’s more than $2000 and it cannot be written off as funeral expenses (even though the amount is very near to it).
This assets have been to be claimed by the official next-of-kin – the Father whom nobody knows about his whereabouts and his personal details (Date of Birth, Identification Numbers, his Point Of Contact, etc). In the end, the Authority is not willing to release the money to the Younger Brother (even though he has indirectly became the Next Of Kin over the last few years) and that amount of money has to be kept with the Authority indefinitely until the Father has made a claim for it.
Do note… there’s no expiry date to this waiting… which means that the money will never ever be released… So would you ever want this to ever happen to you (or to someone that you know), especially if the amount that we are talking about is of a significant amount?!
Read More »Why Is It Important For You To Nominate If You Have Assets
