Ex-Wife, Not Widow, Wins Dead GM Worker’s Life Insurance

The ex-wife of a deceased General Motors Corp. employee is entitled to his life insurance proceeds, because their divorce decree was specific enough to override the beneficiary designation on file with the insurer.

Leon McDonald’s ex-wife, and not his widow, won the plan benefits, because her divorce decree with McDonald constituted a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) under federal benefits law, Judge Laurie J. Michelson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held June 10.

QDROs are legal documents that allow benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to pay benefits to someone ...