R. Ann Fallon: Interview With Matt Taddei, Life Insurance Expert the Burwell Burden — New Criteria for Valuing Term Life Insurance

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Citation: Vol. 36 No. 2
• Publication year: 2014
• Author: R. Ann Fallon and Matt Taddei*
• topic: Contracts,Family Law,Insurance Law

R. Ann FallOn: Interview with Matt Taddei, Life Insurance Expert The Burwell Burden — new criteria for valuing term life insurance

R. Ann Fallon and Matt Taddei*

Ann is a Partner at the Walnut Creek Firm of Whiting, Fallon, Ross &Abel. Ann is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a Certified Family Law Specialist. She received an Honored Fellow Award in 2008 by The Northern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is the recipient of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists Hall of Fame Award in 2009. She contributes to three CEB publications and received the Spirit of CEB Family Law Award in 2007.

In re Marriage of Burwell, 221 Cal. App. 4th 1 (2013)

FACTS: In Burwell, after judgment bifurcating marital status (while the ATROS were still in effect) husband changed the beneficiary on his term life insurance policy to his new spouse and then died by suicide. Both spouses sought the life insurance proceeds. The trial court found the policy was an omitted asset, husband had violated the ATROS and the change of beneficiary was void. The appellate court vacated the trial court's ruling and remanded for further fact-findings and application of the rules set forth by the Burwell Court. Request for Review was denied; and request for depublication was denied.

HOLDING: The rules governing characterization of term life insurance proceeds depend on multiple factors, including:

• Who paid the premium for the final term of the policy;
• Whether the insured became medically uninsurable during a term of the policy that the community paid for;
• Whether post-separation premiums were artificially low due to a cap on premiums paid for in part by the community

Interview with Matt Taddei, Life Insurance Expert

ANN: Burwell's first criterion for the characterization of term life insurance asks who paid the premium for the "final term" of the...