Location: New York I am trying to navigate the ongoing challenges in the hardship surrender of a life insurance annuity (qualified) I inherited from my father when he passed in NOV 2013. He was 82 years old when he passed and was already taking disbursements (Metlife at that time). In early 2014, I truly thought that I had requested a full pay-out on the life insurance; however, Metlife then informed me that I had already annuitized the policy (?), and it was documented on my 2014 annual FMV notice from Metlife that there was "no servicing agent on record". At that time, I did not get too upset about the mix-up because my family was doing fine financially, then. However, I am now 61 and my wife is 62; and now our financial situation has turned dire, as last year we already liquidated the other inherited life insurance annuity from Security Benefit which was super easy and paid-out within days. The reason for this eminent need is that my wife lost her job in March 2024 and she has been unsuccessful in finding a new role in this unsure job market (>500 job applications), and her NY unemployment insurance was exhausted long ago. We also have three sons, with two currently being in college in which one of them has autism in which I have dedicated my life, acting as his personal attendant of sorts to assist his K-12 education. His disability application for SSDI is still in the appeal process with the SSA, so we have paid for his first year of community college, with a great deal of assistance from me. Unfortunately, after several documented/recorded calls with Brighthouse, they have failed to provide me with a copy of my original contract, or the ability to even open an on-line account. Whenever I call them, I am not even treated as a real Brighthouse customer as my annuity contract is immortalized allowing me no visibility of my account, and I am informed that I will not be able to withdrawal the money until age 73. After 11 years, the annuity is only worth \~$28,000 (started out at $37,000 in 2013). It's not a lot of money to most people, but it could save my family at this point! I would be so grateful if the legal expert in this community could help me navigate down the correct paths to possibly resolve this solution as we really can't afford a financial planner or attorney at this time. I'm not even sure that I'm using the correct surrender request form (EF-70N-DXC 10/23) because I never get a response from Brighthouse, and I am very gracious in my communications with them.

Location: New York I am trying to navigate the ongoing challenges in the hardship surrender of a life insurance annuity (qualified) I inherited from my father when he passed in NOV 2013. He was 82 years old when he passed and was already taking disbursements (Metlife at that time). In early 2014, I truly thought that I had requested a full pay-out on the life insurance; however, Metlife then informed me that I had already annuitized the policy (?), and it was documented on my 2014 annual FMV notice from Metlife that there was "no servicing agent on record". At that time, I did not get too upset about the mix-up because my family was doing fine financially, then. However, I am now 61 and my wife is 62; and now our financial situation has turned dire, as last year we already liquidated the other inherited life insurance annuity from Security Benefit which was super easy and paid-out within days. The reason for this eminent need is that my wife lost her job in March 2024 and she has been unsuccessful in finding a new role in this unsure job market (>500 job applications), and her NY unemployment insurance was exhausted long ago. We also have three sons, with two currently being in college in which one of them has autism in which I have dedicated my life, acting as his personal attendant of sorts to assist his K-12 education. His disability application for SSDI is still in the appeal process with the SSA, so we have paid for his first year of community college, with a great deal of assistance from me. Unfortunately, after several documented/recorded calls with Brighthouse, they have failed to provide me with a copy of my original contract, or the ability to even open an on-line account. Whenever I call them, I am not even treated as a real Brighthouse customer as my annuity contract is immortalized allowing me no visibility of my account, and I am informed that I will not be able to withdrawal the money until age 73. After 11 years, the annuity is only worth \~$28,000 (started out at $37,000 in 2013). It's not a lot of money to most people, but it could save my family at this point! I would be so grateful if the legal expert in this community could help me navigate down the correct paths to possibly resolve this solution as we really can't afford a financial planner or attorney at this time. I'm not even sure that I'm using the correct surrender request form (EF-70N-DXC 10/23) because I never get a response from Brighthouse, and I am very gracious in my communications with them.