Family members must notify
the life insurance company of a policy owner's death. As many as
one-third of all life insurance policy benefits go unclaimed on death of
the insured, because heirs often aren't aware a policy exists, or don't
know how to find it.
When missing heirs neglect
to claim life policy benefits after death of the insured, by
law, unclaimed life
insurance policy cash and benefits are held in trust until claimants
come forward. But little effort is made to locate lost heirs and they
can be difficult to trace, due to name changes after marriage or
divorce, an unreported change of address or expired postal forwarding
order after a move, and incomplete or illegible records.
In addition to unclaimed
policy benefits, lost heirs and policyholders may also be entitled to an
unexpected windfall. As a growing number of mutual life insurance
companies - including MetLife, John
Hancock, Prudential and others - have converted to public
ownership, millions of current and former policyholders and heirs are
entitled to receive stock and cash, in addition to policy benefits.
Government trustees
recently took custody of $22.8 billion in unclaimed funds, of which less
than $1 billion was claimed by owners or heirs. Even if your insurance
company no longer exists, payments of up to $300,000 are possible from
state insurance guaranty associations.
If you have reason to
believe a life insurance policy exists but have not received payment,
complete the form below to initiate a search.
