My dad just reached age 65 and applied for SSI. Both my parents have life insurance policies with a cash surrender value and have named each other as the beneficiary in their policies. SSI denied my dad's claim saying the cash surrender value of my moms policy is more than $3,000 therefore he is not eligible.
They really could use the SSI help as they are not able to work and have no other form of income. They do have personal debt that they owe to family members.
My question is, for my dad to be eligible for SSI is it better to surrender the policies for their cash value and spend/use that money to pay back family members debt back or change the beneficiaries on their insurance policies? Meaning is my moms insurance cash value being counted for my dad's SSI because he is the beneficiary? If beneficiaries change to say grandkids or other family members, will it not count towards him anymore?
Long story short, is it better to surrender policies and spend the money or change the beneficiaries and keep the policies for my dad to be eligible for SSI again. Thanks for reading and your help.
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