Contributors

Q: In light of recent developments in California over unclaimed life insurance…will this issue ever go away? 

A: Allison Bell

Senior Editor

The issue will never go away, and it will grow and grow, in new and unexpected ways, because Americans have many physical and virtual shoeboxes, many reasons to discard physical boxes and delete digital files and only a vague idea of what financial services products they own. (And, as I write this, I have a nagging sense that I ought to do something about the baby life insurance policy my great-aunt gave me when I was born…)

A:  Warren S. Hersch

Senior Editor

This will remain an issue so long as life insurers are governed by a patchwork quilt of laws governing unclaimed property. To date, only six states have adopted an NAIC model requiring life insurance companies to check their lists of insureds against the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File.