How to find out if a insurance policy exist for a recent death?
My father died and I signed a paper of cremation . Now his sisters want me to sign paper of power of attorney. I want to see if he had insurance or any kind of asset to help me pay for his cremation. I have not seen this man in 21 years I dont feel I should carry this burden alone. Also he died in a car accident .
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Speak with his attorney and their bank (safety deposit box?) The will should tell about this too if there was one. Sorry for your loss Good luck with the future plans. Oops don’t forget to ask about his automobile policy, there should be something there too. I agree stop signing things until you get some answers. people get strange at times like these. We have had people in our family not speak for 30 years after a misunderstanding over someones death.
Talk to an attorney before you sign anything. If there was an insurance policy and you’re a beneficiary, the insurance company will get in touch with you, or your dad’s attorney will. The sisters may have other motives in trying to get you to give them power of attorney–so consult an attorney who will explain just what they might be trying to do. Waiting costs nothing–and if you explain to the funeral home that you have to wait on full payment for the cremation until the paperwork is cleared up, perhaps they’ll accept part payment now and give you some breathing room. The sisters should chip in on the expenses for sure. There may be a death benefit attached to the car insurance relating to his fatal wreck…so get information about that one too. Don’t let the sisters push you too far and too fast…talk to an attorney!
Power of attorey is completely useless upon death. It means NOTHING, unless they want power of attorney over YOU. You need to be an executor of the estate in order to get access to his banking records.
There’s no central database or anything, so you can’t just plug his name in and look him up. You need to go through papers, go through cancelled checks, etc, to see if you find any policy for him, or payments to an insurance company. Or go to his bank (with the executor agreement) and have them print out the last 5 years or so of bank statements and cancelled checks.
And check with the HR department of his employer, to see if there was a group life policy in place.
If he wasn’t at fault for the accident, the possibility of a big payout to his estate exists, from the insurance company of the at fault person. I’d be VERY leery about giving your aunts power of attorney over you. They can agree to ANYTHING.
YOU are most likely next of kin over them. You might have to get involved, even if you don’t want to.