California Law
OK - I will assume that the surviving spouse was unfaithful to the deceased and the family does not want the proceeds of the insurance or IRA to go to the surviving spouse. The problem is that the insurance company is required to pay the proceeds to the named beneficiary regardless of the adultery. The only time there would be an exception would be if the surviving spouse murdered the other spouse or there was some type of fraud that could be proved.
The IRA is similar since the documents control the distribution. Of course there is nothing to prohibit a contest of the policy being filed but based on any law regarding life insurance I know of nothing that would prohibit payout because of adultery. As for a will contest, the spouse was the spouse at the time of death regardless of his or her virtues.
David Kennett - JD - Attorney at Law
Attorney
25 years practicing attorney
There is no need for a will if the policies had named beneficiaries. If there was no will the order of inheritance would first be the spouse and children, if any. Only if there were no spouse or children would the father be in line to inherit anything. I have no idea what anyone else is thinking or doing so I can't comment on that question.
Dave