Delayed claim result · February 25, 2026
$104,000 in Life Insurance Claim Involving Revocation by Divorce
Life Claim represented the two adult children of a man whose life insurance policy still named his former wife as beneficiary when he died.
Washington, like many states, has a revocation-by-divorce statute. When a marriage ends, a designation in favor of the former spouse is generally treated as revoked, as if the former spouse had died first. The benefit then passes to the next beneficiary in line. Insurers often freeze a claim like this while they decide whether the statute applies and whether the former spouse will make a claim of her own.
We gathered the divorce decree and the policy records and showed the insurer that the statute applied and that our clients were entitled to the benefit. We then prepared and submitted their claim forms and kept the insurer on schedule.
Farmers New World Life paid the full life insurance benefit, dividing it equally between our two clients, for a total of more than $104,000. The check shown is the half paid to one of the two children.
Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
