The displaced homemaker idea sounds interesting. After the divorce (how long ago?), did you live on alimony and child support with no earned income before re-entering the workforce taking a low-paying job after the death of your former husband (when alimony and child support ended)?
You sound like a displaced homemaker to me and this could help keep consideration of your assets out of the financial aid picture.
Maybe @kelsmom can comment.
@madison85, that is how SS explained it to me. Iâll make a phone call and clarify, though making ends meet without that money would be incredibly difficult. We are living bare-bones as it is, I canât imagine where else weâd cut back. If it were only me, maybe, but not with D too. Kids are expensive as we all know. The divorce was just over one year ago, Iâve been working for 1-1/2 years, I started looking for work when we decided to split. The SS benefit is 60% less than what child support would have been - we only received three months of that before he passed away. He also carried her health insurance and would pay for extracurriculars, clothes, etc. It was very amicable and he was willing to help me get on my feet - me staying home was a decision we made together. He was a good person.
If you need the money now to make ends meet, what will happen when she graduates and the money stops?
Iâll figure that out when the time comes. Hoping Iâll be able to find a better paying job by then, if not, Iâll work a second job in retail - I wonât have the kiddo at home and wonât be worried about schedules and pickups, etc. It does mean that I wonât have much money to help her, if any at all. Thatâs what the life insurance policy will do, thank goodness.
You could spend the SS on her and then move an equivalent amount each month (or a few hundred dollars) of your own money into a 529 for her - if you have any room in the budget to save for her.
Iâll still have bills to pay for her, like health insurance, car insurance, will keep her phone on my plan, etc. but the day -to-day stuff will have to come from the insurance.
Yes- thank goodness for the life insurance! He sounds like he was a kind and caring man.
If they wonât speak with you, the beneficiaryâs sole living parent, and they wonât speak with your daughter (the beneficiary) because she is a minor, who will they speak with? And theyâll communicate in writing with you, but not over the phone? That makes no sense. Do you have a copy of the life insurance policy in your possession or can you get it from your exâs papers? If not, ask the insurance company for a copy, on behalf of your minor daughter.
Only the interest paid on the death benefit amount is subject to income tax. In my case, the option for payout via an annuity provided for a guaranteed minimum interest rate, which given todayâs interest rates was very attractive. I chose the option that allowed selection of monthly, quarterly, semiannual or annual payments over a set number of years. The base death benefit was divided by the number of payments, and interest was added to each payment to come up with the total amount of each payment. Only the interest portion of each payment is taxable.
Marjie- is there an executor (in some states its called a personal representative or similar) for your Dâs fatherâs estate? That person will fax a copy of the âletter of appointmentâ (itâs called different things depending on where you live) to the insurance company, and gives that person the legal authority to discuss the payout options on behalf of your ex-'s estate. You are caught in a crazy Catch-22 that they wonât talk to the beneficiary (a minor, but thatâs frequently why people buy life insurance, to protect minor children) or you. But there is definitely someone in this mix who they have to talk to.
I had a parallel mix up (not implying that my situation is as sad as your Dâs) with a family member who had dementia. The long term care company wouldnât talk to me. Medicare wouldnât talk to me. The Health Insurance company wouldnât talk to me-- and yet the patient (i.e. the insured party) was incapable of conducting complicated transactions or advocating on his own behalf. I didnât want to go to the expense of getting the family member declared incompetent and having a judge give me power of attorney- fortunately, another family member found a copy of a signed and executed power of attorney document, naming me. I faxed it all over the place which broke the logjam. Everyone was then able to discuss with me bills, past claims, unpaid benefits, payout options, etc.
Find out who is managing the wind-down of the estate- and thatâs a person who has legal standing to talk to the insurance company about payout options on the benefit.