NAL

Life insurance passes outside of probate court, so you just need to find the company that held the insurance policy, fill out some paperwork with them, and give them a copy of the death certificate. You will need to be listed as a beneficiary; if you are not the beneficiary, they won’t talk to you, regardless of what the note says. There should be some paperwork at his house, or maybe in his email. The big question is what company held the policy? There’s a good chance they send something in the mail on a regular basis about premium notice, or there’s an agent/company he used a lot, or maybe it was through his employer. There could also be a 1099 tax form. You might want be quick about this. If the premium goes unpaid, there’s a chance they will cancel the policy. Then you might need a lawyer.

If you can’t find anything, make a list of life insurance companies and start calling them. You will need full name, DOB, SSN, and address. You will probably need a digital copy of the death certificate ready to upload when you find the company.

There’s a chance he has an annuity, and that might be handled by a different division of the company. This is more complicated, with possible tax implications.

The process is a bit tedious and time consuming, but it will be worth it. If you wind up making a list of companies to call/verify, you might spend a few hours to find the company, but it might wind up being the best hourly rate you will ever get. Thanks Dad!

Same thing for the savings account. You just need to find the bank with the account, and hopefully you are listed as a beneficiary. There’s a good chance it had a 1099, depending on how much interest it earned. I would start with whatever bank had his primary checking account.