Can insurance co. deny survivor's benefit due to prior overpayment of benefit to policyholder before death?

This is really a matter of contract law. My initial impression is they cannot do this. If the insurer overpaid LTD benefits to your mother, it has every right to go after her estate and try to obtain reimbursement. This often happens when a person is approved for SSDI after having received many months (if not years) of LTD benefits. However, the insurer cannot ignore one portion of its contract with your mother in order to pursue another -- this would be a contract violation on their part. On the one hand, your mother agreed to enter into a contract with the insurer, promising to repay LTD benefits if they ever overpay her; on the other hand, the insurer agreed to pay a death benefit to her beneficiary when she passes away. While a contract generally operates as one instrument, a single instrument can have many guarantees; both parties are required to abide by all guarantees they make -- otherwise, there's a contract violation. To my understanding, the legal and correct resolution of this matter is this: repay the insurer from your mother's estate, to the extent the estate is able to do so; then, insist that the carrier abide by its contract to pay the survivorship benefit IN FULL. If your mom's estate is very large, doing it this way is actually more advantageous to you. However, if her estate is small, there may not be enough funds to repay the insurer -- in which case, you should pursue this matter through legal means, since the insurer would undoubtedly deduct what is "owed" from your payout. Before you seek the services of an attorney, send a written complaint to your state's insurance commissioner's office. They will investigate to see whether any state laws or the contract have been violated. If they rule against you, you should speak with a private attorney.

Insurance companies will and do what ever they can to deny claims. They will say no to you even when you have 100% right to get your money... They are hope-ing you will go away, there probably was never even a payment to the policy holder... If it is a decent amount of money or you want to prove a point go see a lawyer, or take it to the nearest college with a law department...

You are not entitled to receive more than the contract specifies will be paid. So if the insurance company overpaid your Mother and can prove it, they are within their right to reduce the overpayment amount from any remaining benefits owed you. Why would they pay you and then turn around to sue you for the overpayment to your dead Mom? Save the court and the taxpayer's a lot of money -- avoid lawsuits. And I'm sorry for the loss of your Mom.

I hate that word "entitled"-but you're not. They've already paid more than they should have...you're lucky they're not chasing you for repayment.