You may remember the story of Ved Dhingra, a mentally ill man from Toronto who killed his own wife, Kamlesh Dhingra, back in 2006 by battering her with a religious marble statue and then stabbing her to death. Two years later, the 66-year old Dhingra was found not criminally responsible for the murder because of his schizoaffective disorder, a mental disorder that combines schizophrenia and a mood disorder (severe highs and lows, mania and depression).
Thanks to the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling, he was the only person entitled to collect his wife’s life insurance benefits. When Ved Dhingra was about to collect a $51,000 payout on her insurance policy from Scotia Life, Paul Dhingra, their son and the administrator of his mother’s estate, stepped in.
In June 2011, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice changed the previous ruling and decided that Ved Dhingra “was not criminally responsible, but he still physically committed the crime“, and therefore he should not be able to profit from the crime. The couple’s daughter, Lina Dhingra, however, was not satisfied with the situation and appealed the lower court ruling. She succeeded and her father was awarded the money once again.
There is another hearing planned for this year’s September because the judge gave the attorney general another 30 days to consider seeking forfeiture of the funds under the Civil Remedies Act, a law that lets the attorney general order the preservation of the property or its forfeiture. We will have to wait to see the final ruling of the court.
CBC news asked Jack Bendahan, a senior life insurance adviser with LSM Insurance in Markham, for his opinion on this controversial topic. Jack is an expert in the area of high-risk cases. He often deals with clients who suffer from obesity, cancer, heart disease, or severe mental illnesses. In his opinion, the key to success is being honest about the client’s diagnosis when applying for insurance. He also recommends listing their estate as the beneficiary of their life insurance policy rather than a person. This way, they can prevent a situation similar to Ved Dhingra’s story.
