- May 10, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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## Situation: My father, a South Korean citizen, passed away and I am named as a beneficiary under his life insurance policy.
### Background:
My father recently passed away, leaving behind a life insurance policy that includes me as a beneficiary. However, there may be complications due to the fact that I am a US citizen living in the United States, while my father was a South Korean citizen.
### Concerns:
I am unsure of how to proceed with claiming the benefits of the life insurance policy in this cross-border situation. There may be legal and logistical obstacles that I am not familiar with, given the differences in legal systems and regulations between South Korea and the US.
### AI Legalese Decoder Solution:
The AI Legalese Decoder can assist in navigating the complexities of this situation by analyzing the legal language of the life insurance policy and providing a clear explanation of your rights and responsibilities as a beneficiary. It can also help in identifying any potential conflicts or issues that may arise due to the international nature of the case. By using the AI Legalese Decoder, you can ensure that you are fully informed and prepared to take the necessary steps to claim the benefits of the life insurance policy successfully.
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Do you know which life insurance company he had a policy with? Contact them.
You need to find the policy details and make a claim
Here is information about how it works with US policies: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/find-lost-life-insurance-policy
It gives several tips, such as looking for the insurance carrier by looking at where the deceased made payments.
It also gives information about how to track down a policy in the US. Hopefully South Korea has equivalent agencies and trade groups as those that can help do so in the US.
Getting access to the bank or credit accounts may be more useful and possibly easier. The insurance is still charging them so go through the statements and see what he has, language permitting.
US embassy will have a list of attorneys and note if they speak English or not.
There are NO tax liabilities on life insurance policies. State nor federal tax liabilities are assessed and you do not have to claim them as an inheritance.
His life insurance policy was with a US company or in South Korea? If a US company call up the company and report the death. They’ll ask for things like a death certificate, copies of your ID since you are the beneficiary, etc. Do you have documentation that you are the beneficiary? Like an annual statement saying so?
If dad was a South Korean citizen and you are a US person (citizen / resident) then you probably have some extra tax forms to file as well for the inheritance from foreign person.
[https://www.districtofcolumbiataxattorney.com/blog/2020/11/do-i-have-to-pay-taxes-on-foreign-inheritance-to-the-irs/](https://www.districtofcolumbiataxattorney.com/blog/2020/11/do-i-have-to-pay-taxes-on-foreign-inheritance-to-the-irs/)
ask your mom or his friends what insurance company your father bought and contact that company.
I agree with other comments suggesting you find a lawyer in Korea. I think you need to know “how this works” to get anywhere with it.
In the US, there would be someone handling his estate — often called an executor or executrix. This would be the person with access to his papers, including life insurance policies. If Korea has an equivalent, it sounds like it would be a good person for you or your lawyer to talk to.
In the US, life insurance policy payouts are not subject to inheritance rules — they are not considered inheritance.
Please keep in mind that, unless he gave you some figure, you may be chasing down something that is not worth, say, a trip to Korea. In the US, it’s quite possible to have a life insurance death benefit of, say, $500.
Good luck with it.
So, the US Embassy in Seoul lists some [attorneys](https://kr.usembassy.gov/services-attorneys/) – you should contact one of them. I did a quick look and some of the ones listed as “Family” also cover inheritance.
I’m so sorry about your dad.
I am sorry for your loss. Do you know how much the life insurance was for? This could be a long and somewhat costly process. You will be able to find a Korea-based lawyer who speaks English just as well as you do, and you should probably do that. Some things to consider: are you also going to have to be the equivalent of the executor of the estate? I know that you said that you are a US citizen, but are you also considered a Korean citizen? It’s likely that if your birth was recorded in his family registry and if you or your parents never filed the paperwork to sever your Korean citizenship, then they may consider you to be a Korean citizen, even if you were born in the US. NOTE: if you are considered to be a Korean citizen, are male, and are of military age, this may throw a considerable monkey wrench into your plans because you have not fulfilled the requirement for all male citizens to complete compulsory military service. Penalties for that can include being forced to perform that 18-21 months of military service.
Whether or not you are a Korean citizen, as a US national, you may have Korean taxes to pay on the life insurance benefit. I do not know how life insurance benefits work in terms of taxes in Korea, but I do know that Korea likes to tax wealth transfers more than the US does. Moreover, if the sum of money is at all substantial, you will need to find a way to get the money to the US. There are limits on the amounts of money that can be transferred out of the country without non-trivial fees and taxes. The most ideal for you would be to get the life insurance company to transfer the money directly to your US bank account. If not, they will need you to have a Korean bank account, which is no trivial thing. Because the US has strong requirements for financial data reporting for its citizens, many non-US banks will have difficulties opening an account for you because they will likely not have the infrastructure that is necessary to the legal reporting requirements. I know that some Korean banks have US branches, and that may be your best bet for worming through the requirements or getting help with getting the money out of Korea and to you. I know that Woori Bank has a large presence in Seoul, and they also have branches near all of the H-Marts (Korean grocery store in large cities) that are near me.
This happened with my dad. I got his ss# and called every insurance company starting with the largest. Found it the 7th call.
Sorry for your loss. Hope you can start healing.
Was he your biological dad and was he a Korean citizen when you were born? If so that makes you a Korean citizen as well. That would make you a dual citizen of US and Korea.
It doesn’t answer your question about how the insurance policy works, but just so you’re aware if it impacts anything.
Was he living in the U.S. when he had the policy? It could even be a U.S. insurance.