Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Sep 15, 2020

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If you were both listed as primary beneficiaries you and your sister should have shared the proceeds. Unless some other allocation was specified in the beneficiary designation, you should have each received 50%.

On the other hand, if your sister was listed as primary beneficiary, and you as contingent beneficiary, the company was correct to pay the money to her.