related to the financial

A about has aloof died. He had a activity allowance action with you listed as the beneficiary. There's aloof one problem: the activity allowance action is missing. You accept no abstraction which allowance aggregation wrote it.

If you acquisition the missing activity allowance action in the future, are you still acceptable to accept the afterlife benefit?

Hope they paid their allowance bills

If you're a almsman and you acquisition the absent activity allowance action anon afterwards the insured dies (within six months to a year, for example), claiming the afterlife account should be trouble-free.

First, actuate if the insured had appellation or abiding activity insurance. If the insured captivated a appellation policy, you'll accept the afterlife account if he died afore the end of the action term. If he died afterwards the action cessation date, you would get nothing.

If the insured had a abiding activity policy, you'll accept the money if the afterlife occurred while the action was "in force," acceptation all exceptional payments were fabricated up until the time of death. If the afterlife was a while ago, you'll accept the account with absorption from the date of death.

If the activity allowance action accomplished — acceptation the insured chock-full authoritative exceptional payments afore he died — there's a adventitious you ability get nothing. Back a abiding activity allowance action lapses, best allowance companies about-face its cachet from abiding allowance to one of two options:

"Extended term" — The allowance aggregation uses the banknote amount of the action to buy a appellation activity allowance action for the aforementioned afterlife account application the banknote amount of the policy. The afterlife account will abide for the longest aeon the banknote amount will purchase.

"Reduced paid up" — The allowance aggregation will accumulate the action in force permanently, but will abate the afterlife benefit.

Gerry Brogla, an actuary for Accompaniment Farm, says in the majority of the cases at his company, the abiding action continues as continued appellation if it lapses. At Accompaniment Farm, continued appellation is the absence advantage for best abiding policies.

If the action lapses, and the extended-term aeon expires afore the insured dies, the action is abandoned and the activity allowance almsman will get nothing. If the insured dies afore the extended-term aeon is up, the almsman will accept the afterlife benefit. If the action accomplished because the insured died (thus catastrophe exceptional payments and causing the allowance to be placed in extended-term status), the almsman will still aggregate the abounding afterlife benefit, behindhand of back the continued appellation was up. The almsman consistently needs to accumulation the allowance aggregation with a afterlife affidavit to verify the date of death.

There is no time absolute during which a activity allowance almsman charge footfall advanced to aggregate the money, according to Jack Dolan, abettor for the American Council of Activity Insurers. "If a being shows up 30 years afterwards [the insured's] death, the aggregation still makes acceptable on it," Dolan assures.

What happens if no one anytime belletrist the death?

If the insured dies and the allowance aggregation does not apprentice of the death, the action lapses. Allowance companies will booty accomplish to acquisition out why a policyholder chock-full authoritative payments.

When an allowance aggregation stops accepting payments, it sends belletrist to the insured allegorical him the action may blooper as a aftereffect of contributed premiums. If the belletrist go unanswered, the aggregation ability admit a chase to acquisition the insured. If that comes up empty, the aggregation will again blooper the policy.

If a almsman to a action never accomplish forward, it abominably agency the insured paid money to a action throughout his activity and his beneficiaries never see a penny. This is why its a acceptable abstraction to accomplish abiding beneficiaries are acquainted of any activity allowance behavior you have.

If you're lucky, the accompaniment may accept your money

In some cases back a almsman fails to affirmation a afterlife account for several years, the money is transferred to the accompaniment area the allowance action was purchased beneath the escheat laws.

If a aggregation knows an insured died and it cannot acquisition the beneficiary, it charge about-face the abounding afterlife account over to the accompaniment comptroller's administration aural three to bristles years of the insured's death. The money is transferred to the accompaniment area the insured bought the policy. The money is advised "unclaimed property" and gets lumped in with abeyant coffer accounts and uncollected hire deposits. The comptroller's administration maintains a database that lists the names and addresses of absent activity allowance beneficiaries.

Many states will try to acquaintance activity allowance beneficiaries in an accomplishment to pay the afterlife benefits. In Texas, for example, the names and addresses of the beneficiaries are appear annually in anniversary canton in the state. In New York, the Web armpit of the New York Accompaniment Comptroller's Appointment of Bearding Funds has an online chase to acquisition any bearding afterlife allowances owed to you. You can acquisition out the procedures in your accompaniment by contacting the appointment of your accompaniment comptroller or treasurer.

Keep in apperception your affairs of award the action with the accompaniment are slim. The allowance aggregation has no obligation to duke the money over to the accompaniment if it's blind the insured died. In best cases, it's the almsman who contacts the allowance company.

Also, the insurer alone transfers the money to the accompaniment three to bristles years afterwards it cannot acquisition the almsman but knows the insured died. If the accompaniment doesn't accept the afterlife benefit, it's acceptable the insurer is still attractive for the almsman or doesn't apperceive the policyholder has died.

Unclaimed afterlife allowances are rarely transferred to the state. Dave Potter, a abettor for Hartford Life, says beneath than 1 percent of his company's afterlife allowances go unclaimed.

Del Chance, a activity allowance claims administrator at Accompaniment Farm, says, "Turning over activity action allowances to an alone accompaniment afterwards the afterlife of an insured is acutely rare. Accompaniment Farm utilizes their own chase techniques as able-bodied as alfresco vendors to locate absent beneficiaries in the accident of the afterlife of one of our insureds. By and ample these procedures accept consistently amid the beneficiary.

Tips for authoritative abiding your activity allowance beneficiaries get your afterlife benefit:

1. Give your beneficiaries your action information. It can be a difficult and awkward conversation, but an important one.

2. Accumulate all your banking annal (especially your activity allowance policies) in one place. Don't force your beneficiaries to chase your abode from top to basal afterwards you die.

Tips for attractive for absent activity allowance policies:

1. Go through canceled checks or acquaintance your relative's coffer for copies of old checks. Look for checks fabricated out to allowance companies.

2. Ask those who may accept accepted about your relative's finances. Speak with the relative's lawyer, broker or accountant. Additionally acquaintance the relative's allowance agent.

3. Acquaintance your relative's accomplished employers. They ability apperceive of accessible accumulation activity insurance. The insured ability accept additionally purchased added activity allowance through work.

4. Check the mail for a year. Exceptional bills and policy-status notices are usually beatific annually.

5. Look at assets tax allotment for the accomplished two years. Check for absorption assets from behavior or costs paid to activity allowance companies.

6. Acquaintance the Medical Advice Bureau. If your about bought activity allowance adequately recently, there ability be a aisle of the companies to which he applied. The Medical Advice Bureau (MIB) maintains a database that ability appearance if insurers requested your relative's medical advice aural the accomplished seven years. Record searches can be requested through the MIB's Action Locator Service and amount $75. The MIB says that about 30 percent of searches about-face up leads.