Marcia:
See Flanigan v. Munson, 175 N.J. 597 (2003) in reaching its holding. Flanigan involved a property settlement agreement under which the divorcing wife and husband agreed to name their unemancipated children as beneficiaries of any life insurance policies either of them had through their employment. The wife obtained two employment related policies but listed no beneficiaries for those policies. She died. The court held that a constructive trust was properly imposed on the proceeds of the policy in favor of the children of the marriage. In so holding, the court stated that once a life insurance obligation was incorporated into a final judgment of divorce, the obligor "could not have modified it unilaterally without applying to the trial court". Flanigan, 175 N.J. at 607.
In your case, since there was no policy, you would sue the state for the value of the life insurance that should have been maintained, plus interest. You may also want to look at the decision in Kiken v. Kiken.
Robert E. Goldstein, Esq.
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