Q: My son’s grandmother passed away July 2023. She had left him $25,000 through a life insurance policy from Prudential.
They are requesting I get a court order for guardianship of a minors estate. Can I do this myself or do I need to contact a lawyer? What should my next steps be?
A:
My experience with insurance companies is that 1) they usually hope to delay payments out as long as possible, though they demand immediate payment of premiums, and 2) the quickest way to get payment if for a beneficiary to give them what they want (they have armies of lawyers on the payroll.
PA recently revamped its guardianship statutory scheme, so case law is scant.
You of course have a right to represent yourself, but we highly recommend use of an experienced PA lawyer to lead the way to your next step, including creation of a guardianship, as the named guardian takes on responsibilities.
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