Often people will let loved ones know that they have life insurance policies, but after the policy holder passes away the beneficiaries have difficulty finding any information about the policies. Tracking down these lost insurance policies is an important step in estate administration.
A life insurance policy is only as good as the ability of beneficiaries to receive the money after the policy holder has passed away. When the beneficiaries do not know the company that wrote the policy, they need to track down the necessary information so they can contact the company and have the policy paid out.
Often, this is a task that falls to the executor of the estate.
Recently, Nerd Wallet published a list of helpful tips to conduct this task in an article titled “How to Find a Lost Life Insurance Policy.”
The list includes:
- Check if your state has a central database – 10 states have life insurance policies registered in a central database that can be searched.
- Check the deceased’s mail – Look for correspondence from insurance companies.
- Look for payments – Check the deceased’s bank account statements and credit card statements for payments to insurance companies.
- Contact Employers – Ask employers if a life insurance policy was provided through work.
- Check with banks – An executor can inquire if the deceased had safety deposit boxes. If so, check the boxes for life insurance policies.
- Check the MIB Group – Since 1995, the MIB group has maintained a registry of people who have applied for life insurance policies. While that does not mean that any policies were purchased, it is a good place to start looking.
Reference: Nerd Wallet (March 31, 2015) “How to Find a Lost Life Insurance Policy.”
