How would i find out if my mom(single parent) had Life insurance?
filed in finance on Feb.01, 2010
How would i find out if my mom(single parent) had Life insurance?
I lived with my uncle for 5 years after her death and he claimed she left no money behind or anything, which leaves me barely 18 and not much go off of right now…its not so much about the money but more about honesty. My uncle has money but hes greedy with it, to points beyond extent. Such as this situation i'm dealing with right now. So how would i find out if she really did or didnt have life insurance?
February 1st, 2010 on 1:08 am
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters Well, MOST people die without life insurance in place. And if you're asking, is there a database where you can look it up, the answer is no. Only the executor of her estate – most likely your uncle – would be able to get cancelled check information from her bank. The cancelled checks would tell you who she had been paying. There's also an application search, that the executor can use, but it costs money, and the cancelled checks are free, and more accurate.If she had no money or assets, it's highly unlikely that she would have been paying for life insurance. BUT, ultimately, you will have to hire a lawyer, go to court, and ask to be appointed executor of her estate, then go to her old bank (you can probably supeona the information from your uncle) and get the cancelled checks for the two years before her death. It's probably going to end up costing you about $2500, and MOST likely, there's no life insurance. Source(s): agent, 21+ years
February 1st, 2010 on 1:08 am
She may have had a life policy, and could have possibly made your uncle the beneficiary, to provide for your needs as you were growing up.If this were the case, the proceeds should have been assigned to a trust fund to be used only for your well-being , rather than to a named beneficiary. A trust fund keeps honest people honest.After 5 years, there is probably no way to find any information, unless your mom had a will, which would be filed in the county courthouse records.But even a will would not direct the proceeds of a life insurance policy, unless it was stipulated in the will.You might want to check with the Medical Information Bureau (MIB), to see if there was medical information from applying to a life insurance company. I'm not so sure this will even work. Even if it did, they wouldn't be able to tell you who the beneficiary was.Log onto MIB.comHope it helps.Best wishes, and God bless. Source(s): Retired agent, 30 yrs.
February 1st, 2010 on 1:08 am
There is no definitive or conclusive way to determine whether a person had life insurance, because each insurance company keeps separate records and there is no central database. However, the following may (or may not) be helpful:1. Find out from the government of the place where she died whether a copy of her death certificate was requested by an insurance company. If so, contact that insurance company and ask whether she had life insurance at that company.2. Find out from the Medical Information Bureau whether she applied for life insurance recently enough for the records to still be in their files. Note that (1) a negative response still leaves open the possibility that she had life insurance, but the application was made too long ago for the M.I.B. to still have a record, and (2) a positive response does not mean that the application was approved or that she still had the insurance when she died; you have to verify that with the individual insurance company.3. Apply to the Social Security Administration, http:www.ssa.gov, for "Survivors Benefits". This is money that you receive from the government for having a parent die, whether or not the parent has life insurance.4. Check the records of the probate court to determine whether she had money when she died.
February 1st, 2010 on 1:08 am
Speak to a lawyer. At your age, and with little or finances, I'm sure you could speak to a legal aid/free lawyer.But it's not uncommon for people these days to have no life insurance, especially if she died at a young age.
February 1st, 2010 on 1:08 am
What makes you think she did, or are you just "fishing"? The only way to find any such policy would be in her personal records.