How do I find out about my deceased dad's life insurance policy?

Question

My dad left a policy to be divided between me, my cousin and his wife. They keep tellingm me that nothing has came, but different things make me think differently. How do I find out info. about his policy? Can I get it through Social Security? Help Please. Im starting college and need all the help i can get!

Answer 1

Is your dad's estate still be settled? Who is giving you this information? You might be able to contact the estate attorney, if there is one. If your dad named you as a beneficiary in a life insurance policy, no one else can take the money from you. Estates and insurance money can take a while to settle. You might also talk to the executor or administrator of your dad's estate. It is usually the spouse, but may be someone else. They should know what policies were in place and other details. I would not count on this money for college if you are going away in the fall. Look for other resources. As his child, you are guaranteed an heir even if your dad didn't have a will (or unless he excluded you for some reason). Try to be patient, and talk to someone who knows about the estate.

Answer 2

The Executor or Personal Representative [or whatever your jurisdiction calls him] of your late father's estate is the person to ask.

If the insurance passed through the estate, s/he has to handle it as the Will directs under authority of the court and subject to the court's rules.

If the insurance was to be paid directly [you were named as a beneficiary in the insurance company's records], the Executor should be willing to tell you from your father's financial records and/or the policy itself which insurance companies he had policies with and the policy numbers, etc. Then you can contact the companies directly asking about the policy.

It is possible that your father cashed in the policy you were told about and no one told you he did that. A possible reason might have been to pay his medical bills, for example.

I can understand how a family member might be reluctant to tell you that your father cashed the policy even though he'd 'promised' you years before that it would be there.

Of course, he could also have changed the beneficiary without telling you. Then it gets tricky -- was he legally competent to do so when it is alleged he did?

And the Executor is where you start.
{Note: if the Executor is one of the other beneficiaries or closely related to one of them, you may want to petition the Court to have the policy examined by the Court to assure that it is/was handled correctly. That is or may be your legal right in the case. Ask at the Probate Court (or similar in your state) for how to do this if needed.}


Don't count on seeing any money soon.

GL

Answer 3

First off my condolences for your loss. I understand that this is a very difficult and confussing time.

Because Life Insurance is paid by contract, the best thing to do is to contact the inurance agent that wrote the policy to make sure you are indeed one of the beneficiaries. If you are not listed on the policy as a beneficiary I'm sorry but any will or trust will not reverse the contract. If you cannot find the agent, try contacting the issuing company... Social Security will have nothing to do with this process.

Again my condolences for your loss.

Answer 4

It doesn't work that way. Whatever his stated intentions were, the insurance company will divide the money however he specified on his last beneficiary declaration. IN other words, he might have changed his mind from what he said, or he might have named ONE person with the hope that they would share, but they have NO OBLIGATION to share.

The claim gets filed. The insurance company pays the beneficiaries directly. The payment will be made, in normal circumstances, about three weeks after ALL the paperwork is filed.

To find out, you need to go through his personal papers, to see if there's a copy of the policy. You need to go through his cancelled checks for the past year or two, to see which insurance company he paid. Then you can try to call them, but if you're not the executor of the estate, they likely won't TELL you anything - as it's private information.

There is no "central database". Social security is totally unrelated to it. And insurance transactions are private, so there's no "third party" you can go to to have them research it for you. It's ONLY going to be about his peronsal papers.

Answer 5

could have a replica along with his significant papers; no reproduction? attempt working via his verify e book for a month-to-month charge to a minimum of a few thing that sounds like an coverage co; wherein case you have a beginning component. additionally verify with the executor of his aspects/Atty if there are any. there's no correct coverage plans database to envision attainable to the typical public; would verify with the agent who includes your coverage for thoughts besides