Mystery policy

My mother passed away earlier this year (she was 81). There was no will nor major assets to speak of, just a checking account which was also in my name.

About a month ago, my father received a letter from a life insurance company stating they were waiting for a life insurance claim on my mother. Apparently she had a policy (which strangely was in her maiden name), which he wasn’t aware of, my mother never spoke of, and nobody else knew about. My parents have been divorced for 36 years and did not get along at all after the divorce.

I tried submitting a claim on the policy as her next of kin, but received a letter back stating my father was the beneficiary and he must submit the claim.

Now my father is showing signs and acting as if he is going to keep any/all monies received from this if submitted under his name. He doesn’t have the death certificate, so he can’t submit it yet. The insurance co would not tell him any details about the policy or the value. So I don’t know if it’s $100 or a million (my guess would be a very small amount if nobody knew about it).

My mother would be furious if she knew he were to receive even a dime from her death.

Not sure where I go from here – as I am not sure if it’s worth contacting an attorney. I am going to try to call the insurance company but my guess is they won’t be able to help/do anything. I am in Minnesota so we do have a law that revokes beneficiaries upon divorce but my understanding is it only applies to certain types of policies. I have no idea what type of policy this is.