By: Naseega Botha, FISA member, Fiduciary Practitioner of SA (FPSA®), and Head of Fiduciary & Legal Services at Genesis Advisory Services (Pty) Ltd Beneficiary nominations on life insurance – how they can affect executor’s fees and estate duty Many of us have life insurance policies that we have taken out for the financial protection of our loved ones in the event that we pass on or to settle debts that we may have. This article intends to highlight the importance of proper consideration when nominating a beneficiary for your life insurance policy. Before deciding on whom to nominate as beneficiary of your life insurance policy, executor’s fees and estate duty must be taken into...
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You’ve protected your family by buying life insurance, but you’re not done yet — you have to share the details with them. Here's why. Do you remember those “set it and forget it” rotisserie infomercials? While buying life insurance can have the same set it and forget it feel, there’s another important step to take after purchasing a life insurance policy before you can consider the job of protecting your family done: You need to share this important information with your beneficiary (your spouse, your children, a sibling, a business partner — whoever you’ve designated on your policy). Why do you need life insurance? Buying life insurance is one of the most unselfish things you can do. You...
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Why you Need Life Insurance When Buying a Home It’s said that buying a house is one of the most stressful life events, and if you’ve recently entered the property market, you’re probably vigorously nodding your head. It’s said that buying a house is one of the most stressful life events, and if you’ve recently entered the property market, you’re probably vigorously nodding your head. Other than the dodgy seller and the ruthless agent, there’s another potential obstacle to your white-picket-fence of homeowner bliss that’s lurking in the neighbourhood. It may surprise you to learn that, if you have a home loan and something bad happens to you, you could lose your home. If you can no longer...
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How to Find a Lost Life Insurance Policy When you think about a loved one dying, it’s hard to imagine anything worse. Now imagine that loved one had a life insurance policy and named you as the beneficiary – but you never knew about it and the benefit is left unclaimed. It may be hard to believe, but in reality, life insurance payouts sometimes go unclaimed because of a lack of communication between the policy owner and their beneficiary. If one of your loved ones has died and you’re wondering whether there was a life insurance policy in place, there are solutions for finding a lost life insurance policy, according to the Insurance Information Institute.1 The Institute suggests: Looking for...
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MORE THAN $665 MILLION IN UNCLAIMED LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS PAID TO DATE AS A RESULT OF STATE INVESTIGATION An investigation started by the Department of Financial Services in July 2011 has resulted in more than $665 million being paid to life insurance beneficiaries who were unaware that they were entitled to money from insurance companies. Before DFS put in place new regulations in 2012, insurance companies did not regularly seek out beneficiaries to pay death benefits, but instead waited for someone to make a claim. However, a significant number of people are not aware that they are named on a life insurance policy by a relative and so do not make a claim. In July 2011 DFS began an...
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It’s estimated that $1 billion in benefits from forgotten and lost life insurance policies are sitting unclaimed in America, says Consumer Reports. Could you be among the estimated 1 in 600 people who may be the beneficiary of an unclaimed life insurance policy? If so, there are ways to find out. Here are some tips to help. 5 WAYS TO LOCATE A LOST LIFE INSURANCE POLICY Comb the house. Sometimes the thing we’re missing is right under our nose. First, go through any files or safe deposit boxes where the lost life insurance policy may be before launching a full-fledged investigation. Think back to the beginning. Which insurance agent may have sold it? Which insurance company may have issued it...
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Life insurance can require more thought than other types of insurance. For example, when people are looking to insure a car, they mostly want the same thing; to ensure that they are protected financially in the event of an accident and can get back on the road as quickly as possible. Life insurance works in exactly the same way but, because the impact of losing a loved one can be much more far reaching, there is more to consider. Life insurance works by paying out a lump sum or a regular income when you die. You might want it to financially support your family on a daily basis with money to live on, such as day to day living expenses or school fees. Or you might want a lump sum payout to...
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Life Insurance Policy Locator continues to connect consumers with lost life insurance. Each year, millions of dollars in life insurance benefits go unclaimed by beneficiaries who can't find their deceased loved ones' policies or in some cases may not even know the policies exist. That's where the Life Insurance Policy Locator comes in. This free online tool, maintained by the NAIC, has received 145,432 requests which has led to 46,665 matches of lost or misplaced life insurance policies or annuities with claim amounts of $650,520,451 million being reported by companies through July 31,...
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5 days ago Over $ million in unclaimed life insurance benefits found. Find out if you're entitled to money. How to claim or find a lost life insurance. If the holder of a life insurance policy dies before telling the beneficiary where his or her policy is, the beneficiary will need to find the policy in order to claim the. Also, check address books for the names of any insurance professionals or companies—an agent. If you can't find the life insurance policy of a deceased relative, you've probably checked the obvious places — desk drawers, file cabinets. Missing life insurance policy? If you're the beneficiary of a relative who just died, and you can't find the life insurance policy, don't...
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Column: How to score a piece of California’s $365 million in unclaimed life insurance benefits It might surprise you to learn that the state of California is sitting on a pile of cash that belongs to consumers — a big pile of cash — and is having trouble giving it away. At issue are life-insurance payouts owed to state residents. Under California law, insurers are required to turn over to the state any funds that go unclaimed for three years. But audits of insurers’ books that began in 2008 found that the companies were clinging to billions of dollars that didn’t belong to them. California joined 40 other states in prying $7.4 billion from more than two dozen life insurers since 2011,...
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