How to Find Out If Your Dead Loved One Left an Insurance Policy
Life insurance companies do their best to pay death proceeds to named beneficiaries as soon as possible following notification of death and receipt of valid death certificates. Ultimately, it's up to family member or friends of the deceased to notify the insurance company. As a courtesy, an insurer will make a good faith effort to contact the insured when premiums aren't paid and contact a beneficiary if it is aware of the insured's death. Under state law, insurers are under no further obligation to find and notify beneficiaries.
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Instructions
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Policy Search
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1
Look through the decedent's personal papers for any evidence of a life insurance policy. The policy itself may be in a safe deposit box, but you might run across premium notifications, policy amendments, applications for insurance or beneficiary change forms that would lead to a specific insurance company.
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2
Review hard copy or online bank statements for entries showing insurance payments. Banks will only provide this information to a named account holder or the deceased customer's personal representative or executor with proper documentation.
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3
Contact the decedent's personal confidants, attorney, accountant or business adviser. Ask them if they can recall any discussions about life insurance, but be ready to furnish legal documentation establishing your right to any confidential information. Current or former employers may have records on insurance benefits through their human services or employee benefits departments. The decedent's will or trust may reference the existence of life insurance. If you draw a blank from all of these individual sources, it's time to seek outside help.
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Go online to the National Unclaimed Property Network, a free website that provides contact information on all major insurance companies and links to federal and state sources for unclaimed property inquiries. If the loved one died recently, call or go online to each insurance company. After 3 to 5 years, unclaimed death benefits must be turned over to the insurance company's state of domicile where the money will remain as unclaimed property forever unless earlier claimed.
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Enter the names of all potential beneficiaries where indicated on the National Unclaimed Property Network website only if at least three years passed since the family member's death.
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Navigate to the website for the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, another free source that connects to each state's unclaimed property department. Select states where decedent lived within the last 20 years and enter the names of each possible beneficiary. Sometimes searches uncover unclaimed cash completely unrelated to the decedent.
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Tips & Warnings
Be wary of websites that charge a fee to access their data. They may be more interested in harvesting personal information to sell to marketers than helping you find lost insurance proceeds.
