Unless estate planning was part of the deceased’s life, finding information about a life insurance policy can be challenging. And if they died suddenly, it may be even more complicated.

That can lead to delays in collecting death benefits, adding more strain and stress on top of the emotional challenges accompanying a person’s passing. Money from a policy’s death benefits can be used to shore up a family’s finances, providing short-term and long-term security and stability when a family needs it most. But someone must have policy details before getting access to any plan benefits.

A lost policy may turn into an unclaimed life insurance policy because of incomplete or outdated beneficiary information, making it difficult for the insurance company to contact a beneficiary. Unclaimed life insurance exists when an insurance company doesn’t know that the insured person has died. Most insurers are informed of a death only when a beneficiary initiates a claim.

If you suspect the person who passed away had life insurance but have no documents to prove it, you have options. Start with these:

• Search through the deceased person’s documents and correspondence.
• Go through digital and paper storage files, including computer files, safe deposit boxes and other places that may not have been accessed for years.
• Review bank statements for checks or automatic drafts to life insurance companies.
• Check the deceased’s mail and email for premium or dividend notices.
• Review the deceased’s tax returns for a record of interest income or expenses paid to life insurance companies.
• Check the application for each life insurance policy you find. This could have a list of any other life insurance policies owned at the time of the application.
• Talk to the deceased’s banker, insurance agent, accountant, tax person, financial adviser and attorney.
• Contact former employers, professional associations, labor unions, fraternal organizations, credit unions and other groups that may have offered group life insurance as an affinity benefit.

If your initial search doesn’t turn up a policy, your best option may be to contact an insurance company to assist you in lost policy discovery. Each company will have a specific process, but all are experienced in dealing with these types of situations and are usually a great help in providing you with information to access a death benefit.

To start, reach out to a company’s claim department. Give them as much information as possible, including the deceased person’s name, date of birth, social security number, address and other identifying information (driver’s license number, previous addresses, any phone numbers, etc.). Customer service reps will walk you through the process. The more information you provide, the easier for an insurer to determine if a policy exists in force and what you’ll need to do to file a claim.

Insurance carriers usually don’t know about a policyholder’s death until someone tells them or until they check the Death Master File maintained by the Social Security Administration.

The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act requires most insurance carriers to check this file at least semi-annually for policyholders whose death benefits have yet to be claimed. If they find a match, they must make a good-faith effort to find the beneficiary within 90 days. The law only applies in some states, but most big insurance carriers comply.

You can push things along by submitting a request to the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator Service. The service has a free online tool to assist in locating life insurance policies. You will need information from the death certificate, including social security number, legal first and last name, DOB and date of death.

Once a request is received, a service representative will ask participating companies to search their records for a life insurance policy in the name of the deceased you entered. If a company finds a policy, it will respond to you if you’re a designated beneficiary or if you’re authorized to receive the information.

Another tactic is to contact your state’s unclaimed property office. When a life insurance company discovers an insured client has died but can’t find a beneficiary, it must turn the death benefit over to the state in which the policy was bought as “unclaimed property.”

Finally, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators has a search tool that takes you to your state’s unclaimed property database, where you can search independently.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to enlist the help of financial and insurance advisors who had a pre-existing relationship with the deceased. Advisors who already work with you may also be able to assist you in your efforts as part of good customer service.

These professionals may be able to save you a significant amount of time and stress by doing the heavy lifting for you. If you don’t have professional connections, fee-based services are an option. There are many to choose from and they may be able to employ tools and tactics to track down lost or hidden policies.

Pros and Cons of Hiring Specialized Services for Policy Searches

Pros

• Saves time, stress and aggravation
• Specialists often know exactly where and how to look for policies
• Allows you to focus on other critical and time-sensitive estate issues

Cons

• There’s a risk of scammers committing insurance fraud and taking your money without providing value
• You may not be in a financial position to pay a search fee
• May get the same services for free from your existing relationships

The best thing you can do to find a life insurance policy for a loved one is to be proactive. Maintain open communication with a policyholder and discuss estate planning issues in advance. Part of this means working with that person to ensure all records are accounted for and organized so that someone can access them quickly.

If your loved one has a living trust, much of what you need will be included. The same is true if your loved one executed a will late in life. In the case of a trust or a will, an attorney was likely involved in the process — another point of contact in your search.

While there’s no silver bullet to increase your chances of finding a lost life insurance policy, there are things you can do and experienced professionals you can tap into to expedite the process.

If you can take steps to minimize the possibility of a lost life insurance policy, that’s the best course of action. Many people don’t do enough estate planning. As a result, there can be added stress to deal with when someone dies.

However, taking some creative initiative, using free government and other public resources, and engaging third-party professionals should ultimately give you the answer you seek.

Anthony Martin, CEO and Founder at Choice Mutual, is a nationally licensed life insurance agent with 10+ years of experience and an official member of Forbes Finance Council. Obsessed with finances, building tech, and collaborating with other successful entrepreneurs.

Tori Addison is an editor who has worked in the digital marketing industry for over five years. Her experience includes communications and marketing work in the nonprofit, governmental and academic sectors. A journalist by trade, she started her career covering politics and news in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her work included coverage of local and state budgets, federal financial regulations and health care legislation.