Canadian Life Insurance Help Needed...

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Ok..So I went up to Canada this weekend...

Visited family and friends...(the great-grandmas especially loved the great-grandson!)

Stocked up on: smarties, dreamland tea, poutine sauce, vanilla shreddies...

No problems at the border (other than the Canadian border guy asking about us bringing over cheesecake when we said we had food, and the American border guy asking about the baby playpen, highchair, and stroller that we brought with us and opening the door to see the baby...lol....)

Got into a minor fender bender...stupid parking garages....sigh....

Anyways....That news aside...

I've run into a dilemma....or more of a shock really....

I just found out that one of my former family members took out a few life insurance policies on me, when I was a minor...without my prior knowledge....

I reasonably asked them to cancel such, and they angrily refused....

As an adult I don't want me or my American family to have any part in this...

Clearly they do not have mine or my family's interest at heart..

All they want to do is profit from mine and/or my family's death, illness, or whatever else...

Pesonally, I don't beleive in life insurance, or any other insurance for that matter....

This is wrong, and really devalues the relationship between people....

I do not want any money....I just want to spend time with others without worrying about this over my head...

Anyways...So now I'm stuck with wondering: What should I do next?

How do I get such policies cancelled? Is there some legal action I can take against this?

Is there any way I can contact an insurance agencies iand/or others in Canada than can help me with such?

Can you recommend such an agent? Can you recommend others that can help too?

Any other ideas/suggestions, etc?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Ant

Edited March 9, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Ontarkie 14,512]

Wow how weird.

I'm not sure what type of insurance they got, but when my kids were born we had all kinds of ppl selling life insurance try to get us to buy some. I look at their stuff and it all seemed to be only good till age 18 then the policies had to be transferred to them. Maybe it was something like that.

I would think if your being covered by someone, you would still have the right to look into any policies with your name on it.

Hope you can get things cleared up.

Danielle

[sdw 10]

That's just crazy Ant. Hope you get it all taken care of.

[Inky 1,111]

I would consult a lawyer.. Its legal to do it as a family member when the person is a minor but as for canceling it and such I would assume that it gets really complicated. It really sucks they did that to you!

[LiLMermaid 2]

if you know which company issued the policy I would call and see if you can change your beneficiary. Thats what I did when I found out my ex husband was still paying on our life insurance policies after I told him to cancel mine because I couldn't afford it. I called and changed the beneficiary to my fiance. He's still paying on it even though he now won't profit from my demise.

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your replies.. Here are my replies back to you.

Wow how weird.

I'm not sure what type of insurance they got, but when my kids were born we had all kinds of ppl selling life insurance try to get us to buy some. I look at their stuff and it all seemed to be only good till age 18 then the policies had to be transferred to them. Maybe it was something like that.

I would think if your being covered by someone, you would still have the right to look into any policies with your name on it.

Hope you can get things cleared up.

Danielle

Ontarkie/Danielle-I agree, it is very weird/odd, indeed! Lol...That's just how my former family is, I suppose..

I know what you mean when you say parents buy insurance for their children, and then at the age of 18 the policies should be transferred to them. And that's the way it should work, such as in a "Gerber grow up plan". However, from what I know, this was not such a plan (it was something else), and my name wasn't automatically transferred. Nevertheless, as I said before, I don't want the money, but rather, not to have this person (or any other person) have a policy over me. I agree too, that you said that I have a right to look into and/or have access to any policies with my name on it, regardless when it was started. Which is what I mentioned to this person before...but they refused such....sigh....I hope I get this cleared up too...

That's just crazy Ant. Hope you get it all taken care of.

Sdw-I agree, it is very crazy, indeed! Lol...That's just how my former family is, I suppose..Nevertheless, I hope I get this taken care of too...

I would consult a lawyer.. Its legal to do it as a family member when the person is a minor but as for canceling it and such I would assume that it gets really complicated. It really sucks they did that to you!

Inky-I have thought about consulting a Canadian lawyer..Unfortunately, I don't have the money/funds to hire a lawyer right now (thanks a lot to USCIS debt..lol...), so that is not an option now. I don't think I can get a lawyer for free/low cost either from here in the USA...so no luck that way either. I agree, it is legal when someone is a minor, but when the person reaches the age of majority...I think there is something illegal about this. I am wondering though, if there is some law about this matter that I can further look into, in case I do have to contact a lawyer someday...hmm....Oh yeah, I can tell you for sure, it really sucks that it has to be this way!

if you know which company issued the policy I would call and see if you can change your beneficiary. Thats what I did when I found out my ex husband was still paying on our life insurance policies after I told him to cancel mine because I couldn't afford it. I called and changed the beneficiary to my fiance. He's still paying on it even though he now won't profit from my demise.

LilMermaid-I know what you mean here too, about getting the beneficiary change. Glad that it worked out well in your case, that you got your fiance to be the beneficiary instead of your ex-husband who doesn't deserve to benefit off you. Unfortunately, in my situation, I am not the beneficiary, nor the owner of such policies, so I can't get it changed myself. And I tried asking this person to put my husband and/or my son, here in the USA, to be the beneficiary instead of them in Canada, but they refused that too (though my husband says doesn't really want to deal with this either..which is better anyways...). The point is, I don't want anyone benefiting from me, and especially from those who don't have mine and/or my family's best interests at heart...

Thanks for your replies so far. I'll keep you all updated as to what happens next...

I'll eventually figure out what to do....And in the meantime, any more ideas/suggestions, etc. would be helpful too. Thanks.

Ant

[Udella&Wiz 325]

if you know which company issued the policy I would call and see if you can change your beneficiary. Thats what I did when I found out my ex husband was still paying on our life insurance policies after I told him to cancel mine because I couldn't afford it. I called and changed the beneficiary to my fiance. He's still paying on it even though he now won't profit from my demise.

You cannot change the beneficiary on a policy you do not own ....Lil - I assume you and your ex owned it and that is why you could change it.

ANT - do you care if they have a policy on you? If the law says they can't have a policy out on someone who is over 18 (not sure of the exact law) then they won;t get paid anyway should you pass away.

Let me email my brother who is an personal insurance broker in Kitchener ON and let you know what he says

[antda 13]

You cannot change the beneficiary on a policy you do not own ....Lil - I assume you and your ex owned it and that is why you could change it.

ANT - do you care if they have a policy on you? If the law says they can't have a policy out on someone who is over 18 (not sure of the exact law) then they won;t get paid anyway should you pass away.

Let me email my brother who is an personal insurance broker in Kitchener ON and let you know what he says

Udella&Wiz-Thanks for your reply too. Actually, I do care if they have a policy (or in this case, many policies) over me...As this is not someone that can be trusted (for various reasons that I won't elaborate here) and as I said before, does not have mine and/or my family's best interests at heart. And if something happened to me and/or my family here in the USA, I do not want this person in Canada profitting off of my unforseen circumstances.

I don't know what the law is either, in terms of who can collect off of policies like this, which is also why I also need this to be clarified, as to what mine and my family's rights and responsibilities are regarding this matter. And if this person is doing something illegal, this should be reported somehow too.

I don't want the money, but rather I want peace of mind. I don't want to have to deal with this later on down the road and I don't want my family to have to deal with this either. Lol..There are some instances that life insurance works...but this isn't one of them, I'm afraid....

Thanks for e-mailing your brother for me, as he is in the insurance business and probably knows more there. I really appreciate this. If you want, I can PM you with more information about my situation, so that you have a better understanding of this. Let me know what specific information you want too via PM, so I can further explain there..Thanks again.

Ant

Edited March 10, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Ontarkie 14,512]

Just a thought here. But don't you need a death certificate to be able to claim life insurance. And I thought the only ppl who can get a death certificate is immidiate family only. Its just a thought. Hopefully Udella can get you some better info.

Danielle

[antda 13]

Just a thought here. But don't you need a death certificate to be able to claim life insurance. And I thought the only ppl who can get a death certificate is immidiate family only. Its just a thought. Hopefully Udella can get you some better info.

Danielle

Ontarkie/Danielle-Thanks for your reply too. You bring up a good point here about the death certificate. Yes, that is true that for death reasons, that person needs my death certificate in order to collect. However, I don't know if that policy covers other things too, that a death certificate may not be required. For example, accidents, injury, long-term hospitalizations, or whatever else. And what if that person gets a hold of my death certificate and/or other medical/heath information in some way or other?.....I don't even want to think of that possibility...scary.....Lol....I'll have to write something in my will (which I have yet to do..) about this.....oh gee.....Nevertheless, I'll make sure only my immediate family gets the certificate if anything does happen....

Lol...Really, should I be thinking about my death like this...this is depressing...lol...

Ant

Edited March 10, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Ontarkie/Danielle-Thanks for your reply too. You bring up a good point here about the death certificate. Yes, that is true that for death reasons, that person needs my death certificate in order to collect. However, I don't know if that policy covers other things too, that a death certificate may not be required. For example, accidents, injury, long-term hospitalizations, or whatever else. And what if that person gets a hold of my death certificate in some way or other?.....I don't even want to think of that possibility...scary.....Lol....I'll have to write something in my will (which I have yet to do..) about this.....oh gee.....Nevertheless, I'll make sure only my immediate family gets the certificate if anything does happen....

Lol...Really, should I be thinking about my death like this...this is depressing...lol...

Ant

Ant...I'm beginning to wondewr if you should be in the witness protection program? Is that why you moved here?? (just kidding)...my brother responded, he'll do some digging and let me know.

[antda 13]

Ant...I'm beginning to wondewr if you should be in the witness protection program? Is that why you moved here?? (just kidding)...my brother responded, he'll do some digging and let me know.

Udella&Wiz- Sometimes I wonder about that too...

I moved here to start a new life with my husband and with my baby....

But the bad past keeps on haunting me....Can't do a thing about that, unfortunate, really....

So trying to move on.....

And I hope that getting this resolved can help with that too....

Really, I should write a book about my life...Would be an interesting read...lol...

Thanks again for e-mailing your brother...let me know too, if you need more specific info via PM...

Ant

[antda 13]

(I was going to post this in a PM to Udella&Wiz...but I thought others should know about this too..)

Hi Everyone,

Here is more info about the situation, which I hope it helps explain things a bit further too...

This person does have a very materialistic, selfish, cold and negative side, with much desire to impress others with her possessions, and with little care for my emotional health and other needs, and with little care for other family members, whom she sees as objects and possessions, too. Money and work means happiness to her, and not spending time with family or making them feel good in any way. This has always been the case growing up and now. She sees family members as investments, and not as persons with feelings. She uses persons for her financial benefit, and when that money dries up she throws them away.

The first life insurance policy they took out on me was at age six or seven, and this was from the funds the government gives monthly to those in Canada who have children. At age eighteen the accountant said the policy amount had to be turned over to me, but my they tried to fight that and she seemed bitter then about her financial loss.

This relative then took out at additional life insurance policies on me, at a time I was very troubled and with many problems, and so I’d have signed anything at that time. I didn’t care then what happened to me, so I didn’t care then much about anybody else or what they were doing or their intentions, admittedly. It wasn’t until years later, after I left home, got married, and moved to the USA, did I start thinking about these policies on me and their likely intentions. I monitored their attitude and behavior towards me for the three years after that, and her obsession about my health is disturbing.

This person in these last few years seems overly obsessed about my impending death, despite me being in a very happy and stable marriage relationship, with a supportive husband that does and would do anything for me; paranoid not because of some care, but from what I see, from some dreams of “cashing in.”

She seems more focused on potential money she could be missing out on, too, as she preferred I married someone with a lot of money, or to have lived with her still so as she could claim me as a dependent or have some tax write-off.

She wanted to keep a copy of our baby’s birth certificate (which I didn't give her a copy of), and she wanted to recently know the exact location where we got our marriage certificate (which I didn't give her a copy of either), and the exact details of my husband’s recent health. It seems perhaps, in light of all of the above, that she may have been attempting to get secret policies on my family.

Because of all the mentioned, recently I wrote an email to her whereby I requested she cancel any and all life insurance policies she has on me, and any other financial or investment policies whereby my name was used. She wrote back suggesting there was but one life insurance policy on me (later finding out this wasn’t true), but with a list of excuses like: that agent is sick and can’t cancel it for a month (any agent at the agency could have actually cancelled it); that agent says I shouldn’t cancel it; I have a right to keep it, and so forth. Well, at my persistence, she says in a later email “trust me I’ll cancel it.” Well, a month goes by and no word from her. I write her back asking if she cancelled it. I also tell her any reputable insurance company will send a cancellation notice, too, but she doesn’t answer that.

I then find out from her that she took out several (more than one) policies on me.....

And now I'm stuck....I don't know what to do next...

Lol..Do I have a case, or what?

Do I really need this over my head for the rest of my life?

Any additional help, ideas, suggestions, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ant

Edited March 10, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Inky 1,111]

Your story makes me wonder if my VERY estranged father hasnt done the same thing to me and taken out insurance policys on me when I was a minor and my parents divorced... To be honest I wouldnt put it past him.

[Ontarkie 14,512]

Wow Ant I'm scared for you. I really hope you can get those policies canceled. It was wise of you to keep your families info private she seems like a nut. Once you find out what you can do about the policies then you can do what is needed to keep you and your family safe.