HB 644 -- NONPROBATE TRANSFERS

SPONSOR:  Burton

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass by consent" by the Committee
on Insurance by a vote of 15 to 0.

This bill repeals the provision which automatically revokes a
beneficiary designation upon the divorce of the beneficiary and
the owner of the property.  The bill creates a presumption that
a subsequent divorce between a beneficiary and the owner does
not affect the beneficiary designation, unless the document
clearly states otherwise.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the current law was enacted in
1989 and was part of a nonprobate transfer bill.  This
particular section, however, affects insurance policies.  That
law changed the beneficiary of a life insurance policy
automatically if the owner got divorced.  In reality, many
people get divorced and still want their insurance policy
beneficiary to remain unchanged.  The bill just returns to the
previous law, so that the insurance policy stays in effect until
it is actively changed.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Burton; and Missouri
Insurance Coalition.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Richard Smreker, Senior Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:45 am