Sunday, June 22, 2008

Mr Davis' attorney has advice for those trophy wives worried about the longevity of their meal tickets: get the insurance policy before your divorce is final. Omaha.com Mary Kay Davis, the former wife, sought the policy as security for more than $1.5 million in alimony and child-support obligations should her ex-husband die prematurely. She lost her case in the Nebraska Supreme Court on June 20, 2008 Davis v. Davis, S-07-529, 275 Neb. 944 " Henry Davis, chief executive of Greater Omaha Packing Co., refused to get a physical examination to allow her to purchase the insurance policy. When the couple divorced after three years of litigation in 2006, Henry Davis was ordered to pay $5,000 a month in child support on behalf of two children and $12,500 per month alimony for 106 months, unless either party died or Mary Kay Davis remarried. The alimony would equal $1.325 million over nearly nine years. Mary Kay Davis returned to court seeking the life insurance policy as security for the divorce decree. Henry Davis had already purchased a $1 million life insurance policy on behalf of a trust that would provide for the children should he die before they reach 19, the age of majority, according to court records. John Slowiaczek of Omaha, the attorney for Henry Davis, said the ruling will not prevent courts from requiring divorcing couples to obtain life insurance as part of their divorce settlements. However, once the divorce is final, former spouses can't get life insurance policies on each other without consent. "Once it's over, I don't have any more right to insure your life than you have to insure mine," Slowiaczek said. The Supreme Court held that although an ex-wife might have an insurable interest in the ex-husband, she still could not force the husband to become her insured life for her own policy. "an insurable interest does not give her the right to own a policy on Henry’s life without his consent. Section 44-704 specifically requires adult insureds to consent to insurance policies on their lives unless they or their spouses are the owners of the policies. Mary Kay is not Henry’s spouse, and Henry would not be the owner of the policy."

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