Life insurance is typically purchased to protect against loss of income in the event of the death of the policyholder. It is good security for your family in case of death.
You will find questions that beneficiaries ask after burying their deceased.
Questions such as: how can you know if you are a beneficiary of a policy? Or how do you know if someone had a life insurance policy before they died?
A beneficiary is any person named in a policy as to whom benefits will be paid.
In these cases, the insured policyholder does not inform the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the existence of a policy in the event of his death.
So how can you tell if you are a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or if the deceased had a valid life insurance policy?
It is not an easy task to know if someone had a life insurance policy before they died.
The relationship between the policyholder and the insurance company is one of confidentiality while the policyholder is alive.
There are over a billion dollars in unclaimed life insurance death benefits as a result of a lack of awareness on the part of beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
The responsibility for claiming these benefits rests with the beneficiary, and in this case, the beneficiary is unaware of the existence of the death benefits and therefore cannot claim the proceeds.
If these benefits are not claimed after a certain stipulated period which varies from state to state, the insurance company is required by law to send the unclaimed life insurance to the state governments.
Here are the steps you can take in your search to answer the above questions and track down any death benefits:
To get this information, you’ll need to check your credit card death records and bank or payslip statements to verify premium payments to an insurance company.
This would include any safe deposit boxes and any other important documents.
Check with your lawyers, accountants or employer for any information.
Ask family, friends, and colleagues for any information they may have.
Check with the State Unclaimed Property Office for records of insurance payouts submitted by insurance companies.
Do a free search online through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Managers website at MissingMoney.com.
Hire the services of a private investigator to obtain the information.
If you identify an insurance company, write to them to see if the deceased had valid insurance with them.
To request any information, you will need to provide a death certificate and a notarized application.
With due diligence, life insurance policy beneficiaries can locate unclaimed life insurance benefits in most US states.
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