Filing Life Insurance Claims
After funerals at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, one of the responsibilities of the executor is to make sure any life insurance claims and filed and paid to the estate. You might not realize it, but life insurance companies are supposed to regularly check the Social Security database for deaths that are reported and match them up with clients and policies.
However, most life insurance companies don’t do this consistently or regularly, so it’s not prudent to wait on them to send a payout on a life insurance claim. However, in some cases, life insurance companies are more vigilant, but they run into a snag trying to send the payout because the address they have on file for the beneficiary is decades old and the beneficiary no longer lives there.
So, it’s best to be proactive about getting life insurance claims filed to receive the payout as quickly as possible.
The first thing you’ll need to do in this process is to find the life insurance policy. Presumably, it should be with the deceased’s other important papers, like the will or trust. The deceased may have kept these in a bank safety deposit box or a fireproof home safe. If you’re unable to locate the original life insurance policy, look for an annual billing statement, which will have the life insurance company’s name and contact information, the policy number, and the value of the life insurance payout. This might be a printed statement or it might be an online statement. If you can’t find a printed statement, then you should have a digital will that has the life insurance login information, so you can get a statement online by logging into the deceased’s account.
There may several life insurance policies for the deceased, including their places of employment, so it’s prudent to check with all employers by contacting their Human Resources department to find out if there are any life insurance policies in effect.
If you can’t find any life insurance policy information anywhere, your next step is to contact the the state’s unclaimed property office. You should contact the office in the state where the deceased lived. They can let you know if any unclaimed life insurance money in the deceased’s name was turned over to them. You can find each state’s unclaimed property office by following a link on the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrator’s website.
An important fact to remember is that no money is considered unclaimed until one years has elapsed without activity or contact with the life insurance policy holder, so it will take you more than a year to settle this part of the estate if you can’t find life insurance policy information easily.
Once you have the life insurance policy information, you will contact the life insurance company and they will instruct you how to file a claim. You will need a certified copy of the death certificate and you will have to complete forms for the company. They will then pay the claim.
Most life insurance policy payouts are exempt from taxes. However, if a life insurance policy is one that accrues interest, you will be responsible for paying taxes on the interest income.
If you want to know more about life insurance policies at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations can help. You can come by our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can contact us today at (850) 627-1111.
