We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
How We Make Money.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation for .
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Dear Dr. Don,
My sister was recently killed in an accident. She may have life insurance, safety deposit boxes, 401(k) and other accounts or assets. All her records of these accounts were in a bag that cannot be found. Where and how do I begin looking? — Tom Tribulation
Dear Tom,
I’m sorry for your loss. I also understand your desire to figure out your sister’s financial affairs so you can work toward closing her estate. Without recommending the other features on its site, the Web site 1800probate.com has an interesting article on “Finding out whether the decedent left a will.”
Going through your sister’s mail as it comes in can provide some important clues about where she may have policies, accounts or assets. Most people who have a safe deposit box are likely to keep it at the branch where they bank, in part because banks often give a discount on rental rates to existing customers. Unpaid safe deposit boxes eventually have their contents turned over to state unclaimed property departments.
On the insurance side, one obvious place to look for a life insurance policy is your sister’s employer. The employer would also be the source for retirement accounts, death benefits, etc. Another insurance source is to contact the MIB Group. It has a policy locator service. Here’s what their Web site says about the service:
If you are an executor, or administrator (in cases where there have been no probate proceedings, a surviving spouse or other relative eligible for appointment may be entitled to order the report), Policy Locator can make it easy to discover life insurance benefits you may not have realized existed.
Old tax returns can also be a source of investment information. The executor is able to request old copies of your sister’s returns using IRS Form 4506, “Request for Copy of Tax Return.”
Your letter is a good reminder to everyone to update their list of financial records and to keep them where a trusted relative or friend would know where to find them. You’ve helped out a few others today by prompting them to get their records in order.
Read more Dr. Don columns for additional personal finance advice.
Share