Girlfriend inherits $1m 40 years after her ex-boyfriend forgot to remove her as his pension beneficiary
A woman is set to receive a million dollars after her ex-boyfriend, who had named her as a pension beneficiary 40 years ago, forgot to update his paperwork.
In 1987, Jeffrey Rolison completed a handwritten form designating Margaret Sjostedt as the sole beneficiary of his retirement account. Despite their breakup almost 40 years ago, Margaret is now poised to inherit Jeffrey’s $1 million retirement account because he never updated the form.
When Jeffrey passed away in 2015, Margaret was still listed as the beneficiary.
According to court documents, Jeffrey met Margaret, who now goes by Peggy, in a park. They started dating in their early 20s and eventually moved to Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
In 1987, Jeffrey joined P&G’s profit-sharing and savings plans and named Margaret as his beneficiary. Two years later, Peggy moved out after they broke up. She got married the following year and had two children.
Jeffrey later entered a new relationship with Mary Lou Murray, with whom he lived until they separated in 2014. Jeffrey died at 59, without a spouse or children, and a court has ruled Murray wasn’t entitled to the money or his $66,000 home, collection of used BMWs, and two cats.
After Jeffrey’s death, his brothers discovered Margaret’s claim to his retirement money. They have been contesting the claim in federal court against P&G, trying to prevent Margaret, now known as Margaret Losinger, from receiving the funds. His brother Brian, a mechanic, told WSJ, “We were shocked.”