I didn’t even know how to Title this one. Mom passed earlier this year. I’ve been paying her bills for years and have never found any evidence of a life insurance policy. When she passed I asked her financial advisor if he knew of one so I’d be sure to order a death certificate for them as well but he did not know of one. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I was forwarded “secondary addressee notice” in my mom’s name. I called the company and explained that she had passed and nobody knew of a policy. The insurance company told me they would mail me “more information”. Yesterday I received a letter advising me to have the beneficiary complete the “Claimant’s Statement”, but no other information. After a lengthy phone conversation, the only information I could get now was 1) a policy exists and 2) the beneficiary is my mother’s mother – who passed over 20 years ago. I was instructed to forward a death certificate for both my mother and grandmother. So now I’m diving deep on the internet to figure out when my grandmother passed and figuring out how to order a copy of her death certificate as well.
Long story but now I’m at the point of wondering if it’s even worth it to continue to pursue this. Seems like a lot of work that is likely to end up with likely nothing?
What are initial thoughts on this? And what other questions should I be asking or forward progress? My father is still alive so the fact that the beneficiary is my mother’s mother makes me think she initiated this policy before she even met my father otherwise she would have absolutely named my father as beneficiary. I’m just curious what kind of rabbit hole of tedious work I’ve found myself in.
I can’t give you a lot of details with the information provided, but it’s common for parents to take out policies on their children and sometimes forget to change the beneficiaries later. It sounds like your grandmother had a policy on your mom that was fully paid off and stayed active until your mom passed away.
Whether it’s worthwhile depends on several factors. Whole life policies were very popular starting in the 1940s. If your mom was a child in the 1940s or 1950s and the policy was fully paid at least 20 years ago, there might be something valuable there.
You should find out if the policy has dividends, its base value, and any paid-up additions. The curiosity alone makes it worth investigating to see what might be there.
Thank you for the insight! My mom was born in 1947, so that fits with what you shared. I’ll do some more research and see if I can find anything. Dad could really use the extra help now that his living expenses have gone up and he no longer receives any of Mom’s Social Security.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply. This situation just popped up unexpectedly, and I wonder if my mom even knew about it!
If the policy was fully paid up, you might be looking at around $5,000. I base that on my experience with policies issued when your mom was a child. It could be more or less.
If the policy lapsed and has diminished value, it could be under $500.
There’s no way to know for sure. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of finding out the value, you could wait until the insurance company sends the money to the state treasurer’s office where the policy was issued. Keep an eye on the unclaimed property list under your mom’s and grandma’s names. Once it appears on the list, which could take 2-3 years, you’ll know the value.
Thanks! I told myself if it’s like $100 I let is slide, but over $1k is worth some effort so I will pursue! Now I have to narrow down grandmas date of death and go about ordering a copy of her death certificate
Worth figuring out especially if there is cash value in the policy. Since your father is the surviving spouse it might make sense for him to file the claim? Were there any contingent beneficiaries?
Great question! I got minimal information from the rep who answered the phone. I was surprised she even mentioned my grandmother’s name. I went to the insurance company’s website and downloaded all the forms they probably sent to the beneficiary on file. I’m curious about where they think Grandma’s mailing address is these days.
I’ll look into it mostly out of curiosity. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my message and reply. It’s been really helpful!
