Once you familiarize yourself with the law, a typical review process will go as follows:

First, locate the life insurance policy.

Hopefully, you have the paperwork showing the life insurance policy in effect. Otherwise, you will need to take the steps outlined on our Lost Life Insurance Policies Page to find the policy.

Second, call the life insurance company or your life insurance agent.

Once you have found the policy or identified the appropriate insurance company, contact your agent or the insurance company directly to notify them that your loved one passed away. Even if you do not know the policy number, the life insurance company should be able to locate the policy for you and provide you the information, so long as you are the beneficiary.

Third, fill out the required forms to make a life insurance claim.

The life insurance company will require you to fill out claim forms in order to pay the life insurance proceeds and to provide a copy of a certified death certificate. If you need help with this process either have your agent assist in completing the forms or call our attorneys for a free consultation. Some life insurance companies, in addition to forms, will ask that you do an interview, provide tax returns, provide phone records or request other additional information. Often times these interviews are done with the corporate attorneys for the purpose of searching for reasons to deny the claim. If you are concerned with the information the insurance company is asking of you, you should call an experienced life insurance attorney immediately.

Fourth, turn in the claim forms.

Once you have completed the life insurance claim forms and mailed in the death certificate it should take a relatively short time before the named beneficiary of the life insurance policy receives the funds.