How to Find Out if Someone Has a Life Insurance

Policy

It’s important to talk with your loved ones about life insurance, but it’s not

unusual to feel uncomfortable about the subject. Instead of facing the

discomfort, some avoid it by purchasing life insurance and then not discussing it

with their families. Because of this, it’s very common for people to die and their

family members not even know the deceased had life insurance.

Life insurance companies insure thousands of people every day. They typically do

not know when a policyholder passes away unless they are told, so they are not

responsible for informing beneficiaries that they have money coming to them.

It’s up to you to determine if there is a life insurance policy floating around out

there and it’s up to you to make a claim.

If you are unsure whether or not your loved one has life insurance, there are a

few ways you can find out if you’re willing to do some work.

Gather your loved one’s bank statements. Read through them to see if any

regular payments were being made to a life insurance company.

Go through the mail. Keep a close eye on the deceased’s mail for many months

after their death. There may be policy premium notices, dividend notices, policy

service notices or statements.

Look through storage areas. Check storage areas for evidence of life insurance,

such as the policy itself or payment receipts. Storage areas could be filing

cabinets and desk drawers. If your loved one had a safe or a safety deposit box,

check those as well. If you do not have access to the safety deposit box, you will

need to bring the death certificate along with an executor’s testament to the

bank. If you are the spouse, you typically only need a death certificate and

marriage certificate.

Read through address books. Address books, whether they are paper or stored

on a cell phone, may contain clues to a life insurance policy, such as the phone

number to a life insurance company or agent.

Contact your loved one’s financial professionals. If your loved one had an

attorney, accountant, an investment or financial advisor, call them and ask if they

know of any life insurance policies.

Check with your loved one’s employer. Contact your loved one’s employer for

any group life coverage or other life insurance policies purchased through work.

Review tax returns. Go through your loved one’s income tax returns from

previous years to see if there are claims for interest earned on any life insurance

policies.

If you have life insurance, tell your loved ones about the Life Insurance Policy.

Don’t force them to go through all these steps in an effort to track it down. Life

insurance protection for your loved ones is one of the most thoughtful financial

products you can purchase, but what good is it if your beneficiaries don’t even

know it exists? Buy life insurance coverage and have a conversation about it with

your loved ones.