My mother passed away October 2005

Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 03:45 pm Post Subject: Life Insurance Policies

Her and my father had been separated but not divorced since 1988 and he will not open her estate. The Clerk of Courts told us that we could contact the insurance companies directly to have the fund released with a copy of her death certificate. Please advise. We know she retired from IBM but we don't have any information regarding which companies had her life insurance policies. We know there is some policies out there but don't know which companies. How can we find o ut which companies?

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 02:37 am Post Subject:

If you suspect these were group policies (provided by her employers) you'll need to contact the HR departments and see if you can get information on current and past insurers they used for this benefit. Be aware though, that if it was a group policy, it's rare that coverage would still exist unless she converted the coverage upon employment termination.

Alternatively, if you are looking for individually bought policies, you can check the Medical Information Bureau. They have a policy look up service, there's a fee.

Otherwise, look around the house for notices from insurance companies. You could also randomly call a bunch of them with your mom's social security number and see if they find a policy. If you aren't the beneficiary they won't give you any details, but they will likely confirm that a policy exists.

This is a tough situation to be in, and there is no exact way to find a loss life insurance policy, this is why it's best to have these items in order. Additionally, openning an estate means nothing with regard to the life insurance policy, unless the estate was the named beneficiary, which would be a major booboo.

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:28 am Post Subject:

Have you tried the MIB? They have this lost life insurance policy locator service. Yeah, you need to pay for their services.