She left a note for her family saying they should "take the [life] insurance money and pay for the house," O'Berg said.
Life insurance generally doesn't pay for suicide.
Joe Whitney, who works with her husband, said that Balderrama handled the bills in the household and that the husband was unaware of the foreclosure.
I think she killed herself because she was keeping a terrible secret from her family. The same internal drives that kept her from telling her husband about the foreclosure are the same drives that made her kill herself when the secret was about to be forced into the open.
I have great sympathy for the newly single father.
"All standard life insurance policies generally cover death by any cause at any time in any place, except for death by suicide within the first two policy years (one year in some states)."
"All standard life insurance policies generally cover death by any cause at any time in any place, except for death by suicide within the first two policy years (one year in some states)."
It's the two year rule. I used to sell life insurance. The reason there is a waiting period is that they don't want to allow people to buy a policy specifically BECAUSE they are contemplating suicide. Fortunately, people contemplating suicide tend to not look two years ahead.
This allows the husband to rightly collect on his wife's death by mental illness.
You could sort of think of suicide as the life insurance equivalent of the "existing condition" in health insurance.
Maybe the wife was manic-depressive. During her manic phase she might have taken out a HELOC or 2nd mortgage and gone on a huge shopping spree. Her husband went along happily paying the frist mortgage. When the bill came for the 2nd loan, the wife couldn't pay it. Her manic phase ended and she had no one to blame but herself. She saw the life insurance as the easiest way to correct her mistake and thought that her husband and children would be better off without her screwing things up.
Just speculation wrapped around a narrative. There are a million other stories that fit the circumstances. Some level of mental illness was certainly involved.
Comments
Life insurance generally doesn't pay for suicide.
I think she killed herself because she was keeping a terrible secret from her family. The same internal drives that kept her from telling her husband about the foreclosure are the same drives that made her kill herself when the secret was about to be forced into the open.
I have great sympathy for the newly single father.
It depends on the provider. Some, like mine, have a 2 year waiting period.
It's hard to even imagine what would make a mother and wife think the best solution to her problems is to create a widower and almost orphans.
David no providers pay for suicide. It doesn't matter what the wait period is.
Waiting periods are avoided by a lot of people by selling it to someone for 80%.
However this is sad, and as Alan pointed out it was probably the grief of everything coming out. Sad.
2 year waiting period after buying the policy. 0-2 years, no benefit. After 2, they pay.
Google it. It depends on the company and the state you live in.
http://www.insure.com/articles/lifeinsu ... asics.html
"All standard life insurance policies generally cover death by any cause at any time in any place, except for death by suicide within the first two policy years (one year in some states)."
This allows the husband to rightly collect on his wife's death by mental illness.
You could sort of think of suicide as the life insurance equivalent of the "existing condition" in health insurance.
I'm sure she knew they would be hurt by her actions, but death is a pretty effective cure for guilt.
Maybe the wife was manic-depressive. During her manic phase she might have taken out a HELOC or 2nd mortgage and gone on a huge shopping spree. Her husband went along happily paying the frist mortgage. When the bill came for the 2nd loan, the wife couldn't pay it. Her manic phase ended and she had no one to blame but herself. She saw the life insurance as the easiest way to correct her mistake and thought that her husband and children would be better off without her screwing things up.
Just speculation wrapped around a narrative. There are a million other stories that fit the circumstances. Some level of mental illness was certainly involved.