Life Insurance & Annuities: Frequently asked questions

How can I find out if my deceased relative had life insurance?

Unfortunately, there's no clearinghouse of information on life insurance policies. Here are some suggestions:

• Go through canceled checks or contact your deceased relative's bank for copies of old checks. If he or she wrote checks to pay premiums, the insurer's name should be listed on the checks.
• Check old credit card statements. Your relative may have paid premiums by credit card.
• Check probate court records for details of your relative's estate. If the estate has gone through or is in probate court, a life insurance policy could show up as an asset.
• Contact any past employers to see if your relative had group life insurance.
• Contact other family members (i.e., brothers, sisters, or children) who may have been privy to your relative's finances. Perhaps they will know if he or she had insurance and from whom it was purchased. Also ask your relative's lawyer, banker, or accountant.
• Track down your relative's auto or home insurance agents. They may have sold him or her a life insurance policy or at least know from whom it may have been purchased. The agent can also query the home office of the company to determine if there is a policy on file for that client. Under the new HIPPA guidelines, there may be legal requirements before any information can be released, but you will know what the policy is there to make the request.
• If your relative bought life insurance fairly recently, there might be a trail of the companies to which he/she applied. The Medical Information Bureau maintains a database that might show if insurers requested your relative's medical information within the past seven years. Record searches can be requested through the Disclosure Office of the MIB and cost $8.50.

Keep in mind that if no beneficiary comes forward to collect the death benefit, and your relative's insurance company cannot locate a beneficiary, the insurer has to hand over the death benefit to the state within a certain period of time (usually three years, although it varies by state). After the state receives the death benefit, a beneficiary still can come forward to collect the proceeds.

For more, read What happens to old lost life insurance policies?

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