Grandfather's Life Insurance?

When my grandfather passed his insurance policy information was removed or misplaced by people cleaning out his things. How would I go about finding out who it was with? I was his only beneficiary.

Well, you'll have to become the executor of his estate, appointed by a judge, and go get copies of his bank statements to find out the company name and policy number. Then you have to contact them to see if the policy was in force.

You have NO way of knowing, actually, that you were his only beneficiary, until AFTER the claim is filed.

There is no "central database" where you can look this up. The state insurance commissioner does NOT track which policies are active, they do NOT get a report of who buys what policies. There is no shortcut. MOST people die without life insurance in place. If it IS in place, it's more likely that his estate is beneficiary than a grandchild - in which case it would be used by the executor to pay off his debts and final expenses.

He was paying a monthly premium, so you should be able to find it on a bank statement or his canceled checks.

The advice to go through checks stubs and financial records to find payment info -and the name of the insurance company- is good. That is, unless, he had a policy that was "paid up" some time ago. But give that try, anyway.

Here are the other recovery routes:

1. Did he have a will? Does it mention the policy BY NAME? Who was the attorney he wrote it up? Or, for that matter, who was ANY attorney he consulted or even knew. Talk top that person.

2. What about the homeowner's, renters or auto insurance. Whoever wrote THAT may have also written the life policy. Follow up.

3. Did he have an investment account anywhere? Possibly, if he had ever put together a financial statement, the policy was listed on it.

4. Where did he live when he bought the policy? If it was purchased locally, then poll the insurance agents (ALL of them, not just "life agents") to see if you get a hit. If it was a mail order policy, then check all the big players, such as "Physician's Mutual."

5. Who were his buddies and old cronies. Often, they chat with one another about where they bought insurance. Scope 'em out.

6. Was he a member of any society or lodge, such as the Moose or Knights of Columbus. If so, THEY may have issued his policy. Was he in AARP? Maybe the Insurance came from them. That would be New York Life.

7. Obviously, if you can get your hands on the stuff that was tossed out, you should do so and start going through it.

8. You may have been the only beneficiary of the policy, but there may have been others who received other bequests or inheritances of other kinds. Chat with these folks and survivors/successors in general to see if any have a clue about the insurance.

9. If he was in a nursing home when he died, and the bill was paid by Medicaid/medicare, then he might have had to file a financial statement with them to qualify for assistance, and the policy possibly could have been listed as an asset with those folks. Check with the nursing home for a contact at medicare/medicaid.

10. Where did he do his banking -specifically, what branch? Was there a safe deposit box there? You'll need some documentation and a death certificate to get into it, but start by a chat with the brach manager.

11. Since virtually all life policies of any substantial size require medical underwriting, the database at MIB can match names to policies. But you'll need to show good cause why they should tell YOU -the info is private. Go here:

http://www.mib.com/html/lost-life-insurance.html

(There is a small cost)

I'm a bit surprised that the agent with 21 years experience didn't suggest this. Oh well, I was an agent for 22.

If this all fails, the talk with an attorney about getting some professional help to track things down.

I hoep this helps. Good luck. Sorry about Grandpa.

Check with his homeonwers/car insurace company or place of business. Some people have all policies with one company. Also, if he has a will - it will most likely be in it.

Did you keep his wallet? There might be a card. He should have something in his papers.

The threat of a lawsuit against the people "cleaning out his things" often produces desirable results in a situation like this. I would instruct them to locate your policy immediately.

If his will did not mention anything, as the only beneficiary, you would have the rights to go through all that he had left behind. You should be able to find the policies somewhere among the documents. I always put all my impt documents together so my family would know where to get all the doc if anything should happen to me.

If you and him were close enough, these things should already be at your fingertips.

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