If you have listed non-relatives as your life insurance beneficiaries, who provides the death certificate?
Free Insurance Comparison
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I have listed a charity as the sole beneficiary of my life insurance policy, whose responsibility is it to provide the certified death certificate to the insurance company if I die. The charity I have listed does not know me personally and therefor does not know that I have listed them as a beneficiary, nor are they likely to know of my death. How will the official documentation be filed so that the claim may be payed out as per my wishes.
Alternatively, if I have listed a non-relative, such as my best friend, as my beneficiary, they would not be entitled to my official death certificate, I think. They don’t have my SSN or many of the details needed for obtaining such a document. So again, how would the official requirements be submitted so that my friend may be paid?”
Asked July 11, 2017
1 Answer
When a life insurance policyholder passes away, the death certificate is typically provided by the official government agency responsible for issuing death certificates in the jurisdiction where the death occurred. This agency may be the state's Vital Records Office, a county registrar, or a municipal health department. It is important to notify the insurance company of the policyholder's death as soon as possible. The insurance company will likely require a certified copy of the death certificate in order to process the claim and pay out the policy proceeds to the named beneficiaries. The beneficiaries themselves do not provide the death certificate; it is the responsibility of the executor of the deceased's estate or a family member to obtain it. If the named beneficiaries are non-relatives, it is especially important to keep the insurance company informed of any changes in contact information to ensure that the insurance company can reach them to process the claim. It is also advisable for the policyholder to discuss their wishes regarding their beneficiaries with them and to inform them of the policy's existence and how to make a claim in the event of their death.
Answered July 12, 2017 by doclee