Beneficiaries may not take portion of punitive damages they paid to estate. A decedent's will gave one-third of his estate to each of three relatives. Two of the beneficiaries were found guilty of committing fraud on the decedent and of having breached their fiduciary duty to him. They were assessed both compensatory and punitive damages. The trial court ruled that those two beneficiaries could not take any part of the punitive damages belonging to the estate and that their share of the estate would be offset against the estate's attorney's fees from the fraud action.
Statute revoking beneficiary designation of ex-spouse on divorce is constitutional .
The ex-spouse had no rights in the contract between the insurer and insured and also had no expectation of rights, because the dissolution decree awarded the policy to the insured. Will ineffective to change beneficiary designation . The decedent attempted to devise all insurance benefits resulting from his death to his father. His ex-wife was the named beneficiary of a life insurance policy. The decedent's ex-wife had denied the decedent's paternity of the last child born during their marriage.