How to find out if someone has life insurance

How to find out if a life insurance policy exists

To find out if a life insurance policy exists, first review documents and contacts for a policy, agent, or company. Check with the person's employer and the Medical Information Bureau. Some states provide life insurance policy search assistance.

Search personal papers and contacts

Knowing the insurance company's name will quickly end your search, but if you don't have that information, there are ways to track it down.

Your first step should be to look through your relative's canceled checks or go to the person's bank and request copies of old checks. Look for checks made out to life insurance companies or automatic payments withdrawn from their bank account. You can also review recent income tax returns for taxable withdrawals or dividends.

You can also check with a lawyer or accountant to see if that person can track down the insurance policy or insurance company in their records.

Check employer and group policies

Many people get life insurance through an employer. Check with the deceased’s former employer’s benefits coordinator to see if they bought into the company's group life insurance.

You should also reach out to the deceased’s associations, unions and professional organizations. Those groups also often provide life insurance for members.

Check with the Medical Information Bureau

Call the Medical Information Bureau (MIB). MIB maintains a database showing if insurers requested your relative's medical information. There is a policy locator service that searches over the past 20 years and locates applications for a fee.

According to the MIB website, the following people can access the files:

An officially appointed representative of decedent's estate (executor, administrator or his/her small estate administrator) or surviving spouse;
If no estate representative has been appointed (and one is not expected to be appointed) and there is no surviving spouse, then a child of the decedent may submit a request; or
If there is no estate representative, surviving spouse or child, then the decedent's closest living relative may submit a request, provided that such person is actively engaged in gathering all the decedent's assets and/or has a good faith belief that he or she has an interest in a life insurance policy on the decedent.

Contact insurance companies

You can reach out to insurance companies directly to find policies. Some insurers offer lost-policy finders on their websites.

If you conduct the search and provide basic information, the insurance company will contact you with the information if you were named a policy beneficiary. The insurance company will also contact you if you're not a beneficiary, but privacy laws restrict what the insurance company can tell you about the policy.

Check with the state

Some states will help you find lost policies. Like searching an insurer's site, a state will request basic information to verify the policy. You may need to include the date of birth, date of death, last known address, and a copy of the death certificate.

The states that will help you with your search include:

The state may only search for policies issued there. If the deceased person lived in another state previously, you should check there, too.

If the person died more than a year ago, another option is to check with the state's unclaimed property division. Life insurance companies forfeit life insurance proceeds to a state's unclaimed property division if they can't reach the beneficiary.

A good place to start to find unclaimed money is the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, which provides links to unclaimed property divisions in each state.

If the insurance company wasn't notified of the death and still expected payment, it might have canceled because of missed payments. Keep that in mind as you're searching for the policy.

Can you still collect if the policy lapsed after the insured died?

Yes. If the insured died and stopped making payments, causing the policy to lapse, you can still collect. Whole life policies include non-forfeiture options for lapsed policies, which can ensure you will be able to collect even if the insured’s death causes the policy to lapse.

Some insurance companies or states may impose time limits or statutes of limitations on the collection of life insurance benefits. The life insurance company must be presented with the death certificate to verify the insured's death. If the beneficiary never comes forward, then no one receives the money.

Tracking down a missing life insurance policy can be a hassle, so telling your loved ones of any policy is important.

FAQ: Finding a life insurance policy

How do I find out if I’m the beneficiary of a life insurance policy?

If you think you might be a beneficiary of someone’s life insurance policy, it is incredibly important that you talk with them to get that information. Someone can have multiple beneficiaries on a policy, so you’ll need to know who is primary.

How can you tell if someone has life insurance?

The easiest way is to ask them directly. However, there are state agencies that should have that information as well.

How do I find life insurance for a deceased parent?

If you are unsure if there is a life insurance policy on a parent who has died, the best way to find out would be to either check with their employer or with the state. If they were part of an employer-based life insurance plan, the company would have the information you’re looking for.

How do you find a life insurance policy after someone's death?

The places that will give you the best chance of getting an answer to this are the deceased’s employer or the state. They may have been on a company life insurance plan, and the state may have agencies where they can search for plans in a database if given the deceased’s information.