# Searching for deceased person's life insurance policies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550 "2019-01-10T19:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/1 "2019-01-10T19:48:01Z")
After someone dies, is there any way to find out if they had any life insurance policies.  I mean other than sorting through mountains of paperwork saved (or perhaps just not disposed of) that dates back decades.  Is there a national database or something where you can see all policies a person might hold?   If you have access to their banking records, you can probably trace down any policies they were still actively paying for, but don’t whole life policies eventually get “paid up?”  Then there would be no paper trail of checks going to the company that issued the whole life policy for potentially decades before the person died.   -rainy ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/2 "2019-01-10T19:59:26Z")
I don’t believe so. One suggestion is that if you find any insurance policies (auto, house), you could contact the agents for those policies about the life insurance possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/3 "2019-01-10T20:27:20Z")
You gotta dig through the papers. Check their bank and see if there’s a bank box they’ve rented. That’s a good place to start. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/4 "2019-01-10T21:28:36Z")
If they had insurance they were making regular payments, check their bank statement. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/5 "2019-01-10T21:31:23Z")
Do the insurance companies make any attempt at determining whether any policyholders died in the last month (e.g., by checking Social Security records) and notifying the beneficiaries? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/6 "2019-01-10T21:31:33Z")
the insurance companies have people who find heirs. my mother got a life insurance policy when she was single, my grandmother was the beneficiary. I had no idea she had this policy, there was nothing pointing to it. she only told me about one policy. I believe it was so old she forgot about it. she passed in 2007, in 2012 I got a letter informing me of her policy, with a number to call/address to respond. a bit of paperwork (death certificates, notary) and they paid out, rather quickly really, it was an amazing experience. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/7 "2019-01-10T22:20:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Do the insurance companies make any attempt at determining whether any policyholders died in the last month (e.g., by checking Social Security records) and notifying the beneficiaries? Yes. All life insurance companies check the Social Security Death Index each month for policy holders whose deaths have been reported to the SSA. If they find one, they notify the named beneficiary on the policy automatically. Sometimes things can go wrong, if the insurance company had the wrong SSN, or an old address for the beneficiary, etc. in which case you will need to straighten things out. But usually it’s pretty straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/8 "2019-01-10T23:37:29Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > the insurance companies have people who find heirs. > > my mother got a life insurance policy when she was single, my grandmother was the beneficiary. I had no idea she had this policy, there was nothing pointing to it. she only told me about one policy. I believe it was so old she forgot about it. she passed in 2007, in 2012 I got a letter informing me of her policy, with a number to call/address to respond. a bit of paperwork (death certificates, notary) and they paid out, rather quickly really, it was an amazing experience. Within the past decade or so, my mother found my grandmother’s (1898-1990) name on one of those unclaimed money lists, and contacted them. She found out that Grandma had purchased a $250 burial policy around the time of her marriage in 1922, and must have also forgotten about it. After sending in some paperwork, including the death certificate, my mother got a check for $250 plus interest, so it was about $1,000. To the OP: How long ago did the person die? If it was recent, also check with the financial institution(s) with which they did business, because many of them provide a nominal amount of insurance, usually $1,000, just for signing on the dotted line (and then you get a lot of junk mail asking you to buy more, but I digress). ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/9 "2019-01-11T00:46:43Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > If it was recent, also check with the financial institution(s) with which they did business, because many of them provide a nominal amount of insurance, usually $1,000, just for signing on the dotted line (and then you get a lot of junk mail asking you to buy more, but I digress). Very recently. That’s a good thought. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/10 "2019-01-11T05:50:55Z")
In the US, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a [Life Insurance Policy Locator Service](https://eapps.naic.org/life-policy-locator/#/welcome); basically, you submit a single request and they ask all participating companies to check their records. Not all companies participate, but the big ones do. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-deceased-persons-life-insurance-policies/827550/11 "2019-01-11T16:29:35Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > In the US, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a [Life Insurance Policy Locator Service](https://eapps.naic.org/life-policy-locator/#/welcome); basically, you submit a single request and they ask all participating companies to check their records. Not all companies participate, but the big ones do. Thank you.