I bet the sheriff told the life insurance company to hold out on cutting that check since they are not done with mark yet.
So if mark was the beneficiary and charged with her murder. Does the insurance company still cut a check to the kids. Or to their guardian. Or not at all.
Slayer statutes prohibit life ins benefits from being paid to anyone causing death of the insured person. Oversimplified, ea state has different detail, whether involuntary manslaughter is sufficient, or what degree murder, etc. See FL* below.
If, for ex, MS is designated Primary Ben'y of policy, and he now submits claim to ins'r, who pays all $$ to him, and MS is later convicted re TS death, the designated Contingent Ben'y (azz-uming their 2 minor children, or rep or guardian) could submit claim. If ins'r refuses to pay, because ins'r earlier payment to PB relieves ins'r of duty to CB under policy, likely imo, CBs would sue ins'r, and likely ct would order ins'r to pay CB, thus making
insurer pay twice.
Suspicious deaths like this put insurer in a difficult position. Ins'r often files interpleader** petition in ct, basically saying, there's a policy, we've been advised of prosecution pending against PB, so we/ins'r tender payment of $*advertiser censored*,000 by check to the ct, step out of the loop. Then ct decides, possibly w
years-long delays, in cases like this.
Likely, imo, ins'r would not issue check to MS as Primary Beneficiary(ies) or the 2 minors as Contingent Bnfry(ies), but handle through an interpleader action. JM2cts, IANAL and don't play one on TV.
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* FL slayer statute.
732.802 Killer not entitled to receive property or other benefits by reason of victims death
"....(3) A named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy, or other contractual arrangement who unlawfully and intentionally kills the principal obligee or the person upon whose life the policy is issued is not entitled to any benefit under the bond, policy, or other contractual arrangement; and it becomes payable as though the killer had predeceased the decedent."
"....(5) A final judgment of conviction of murder in any degree is conclusive for purposes of this section. In the absence of a conviction of murder in any degree, the court may determine by the greater weight of the evidence whether the killing was unlawful and intentional for purposes of this section."
bbm sbm
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes...ute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.802.html
Also http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/slayer-rule/
** "Interpleader is civil procedure that allows a plaintiff to initiate a lawsuit in order to compel two or more other parties to litigate a dispute. An interpleader action originates when the plaintiff holds property on behalf of another, but does not know to whom the property should be transferred. It is often used to resolve disputes arising under insurance contracts."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpleader
