Can an ex-wife be a beneficiary to her ex-husband's life insurance?

I am not entirely clear what your current relationship to the life insurance is. Owner? Current primary beneficiary. Generally, the life insurance company will pay benefits to the designated beneficiary. It will not care whether you are a current spouse. However, if you and your ex-husband had an agreement regarding the insurance as part of your divorce property settlement, then you should review it. This is a good question of how to preserve your rights and I encourage you to discuss with a local attorney.

A policy owner can designate anyone as a beneficiary. You and may, however, make sure his beneficiaries of his estate know about this arrangement to avoid costly litigation after his death.

Unless your divorce decree re affirmed you as the beneficiary or your ex -husband reaffirmed you as the beneficiary of the life insurance policies which I assumed you had during the marriage (so they would have been community property) you are no longer the beneficiary. Texas Family Code Section 9.301(a) controls. It is as if you had died before he died so the alternate beneficiary will automatically receive the money if no changes have been made. If you were not designated beneficiary by name but rather the beneficiary is listed only as "my wife" it is possible the Insurance will go to the new wife unless the situation is clarified.

As long as you have an insurable interest in your ex-husband's life, there is no legal impediment to your being a beneficiary on his life insurance policies. In this case, I'm not sure whether or not you have an insurable interest. That would depend on whether or not you would suffer any financial loss if he died. The safe course of action is to tell the insurance companies what the situation is and clear it with them. They may be unaware of the divorce and have no idea whether or not you still have an insurable interest. By no means should you wait until your ex passes away and then just hope the insurers will pay you. If they can find a plausible excuse not to pay you, they won't. Then you'd have to hire a lawyer, pay him or her a subtantial fee, and perhaps wait years to get any money. This is particularly important in your case because you are paying the premiums, so you need to make sure you eventually get what you've been paying for. By the way, since you're paying the premiums, you should be the owner of the policies. If you're not, you should address this with the insurers as well. Whether or not to change the beneficiary from you to your children is a business decision and not a legal question, I think. I suggest you discuss this with your children and your ex, give the matter some thought, and then make a decision based on your and your children's wishes and needs. Good luck.