Locating Life Insurance and Annuities

Probate administration is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Executors and their legal representatives must prepare a comprehensive accounting of assets for the Estate, and they often begin this process with imperfect knowledge of the decedent’s financial holdings.

Much of the picture can be filled in with information from financial institutions, tax agencies, and the decedent’s personal papers. Yet what happens if undisclosed accounts – like life insurance policies or annuities – are suspected to exist, but cannot be found?

“Finding those missing pieces can be the hardest task in probate administration,” says John Powers, certified fraud examiner and president of Hudson Intelligence.

In a recent article in The CPA Journal, John Powers reviews methods used by estate representatives to identify financial accounts and assets. He identifies serious limitations of several of the most common methods: relying on the postal service for account statements, obtaining copies of past tax returns, and searching state treasuries for escheated property.

“It is important to recognize what you might be missing by relying on these non-investigative approaches to inventorying assets, particularly in situations where little useful information can be found in the decedent’s personal records,” he notes.

For recommendations on enhanced due diligence to locate missing assets, annuities and life insurance policies, read the full article at The CPA Journal.