beneficiary on father's retirement

[Guest chiefkat]

My father passed away, somehow my brother (executor of estate), convinced insurance policies that I was not able to locate. It took me years to get beneficiary money from my father's main life insurance company. But it was there just sitting there. Since I was not able to have access to any documents (he did not have a will), I don't know what else might be "just sitting there". How can I find out if I was on my dad's retirement account?

[GBurns]

Identify the target companies, retirement plans, banks etc contact them and request a Claim Form. You might have to actually file the claim to find out if it is denied. It probably would be prudent to state that you do not know that you are a named beneficiary but are just seeking to find out so that it is clearly documented that you are not filing fraudulently.

You might also want to look at his tax returns and W2, 1099 etc.

The executor should have all of this anyhow and since he diied intestate might have had to file alot of asset information with the Probate Court. Probate Court info should be viewable at the court clerk's office.

[david rigby]

How can I find out if I was on my dad's retirement account?

Contact the company(s) that sponsored the plan(s). Probably ask for the Human Resources dept.

If you need a start on address or other information, try http://www.freeerisa.com/. You will need to establish a (free) userID before accessing the data. Then click on "ERISA Form 5500 filings", and choose your search criteria. When you get a hit, look at the address and phone number on page 1 of the form.