When a parent dies a child may or may not be named as a beneficiary in a Will; if the parent dies without a Will a child typically has inheritance rights. However, your case deals with a life insurance policy. And life insurance proceeds pass outside of the probate estate. This means that unless you are named as a beneficiary in the policy, children or not, you have no right to any of the insurance proceeds. I'm afraid that unless your stepmother, the sole beneficiary, is feeling generous you have no right to collect any portion of the proceeds.