Claiming Pensions, Veterans, and Other Benefits: Information for Executors and Beneficiaries

After the death of a loved one, the executor or surviving family members should review the deceased person's papers to see if there are any benefits that may be available to the survivors.

How Beneficiaries Can Claim Life Insurance and Social Security Benefits

Beneficiaries need to know how to collect life insurance and Social Security payments that belonged to the deceased; the executor of the estate doesn't usually handle this task.,

Finding Unclaimed Life Insurance Policy Proceeds

It’s estimated that every year, hundreds of millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds go unclaimed, simply because the beneficiaries don’t know about the policies.

Claiming Wages After a Family Member Dies

When a breadwinner dies, surviving family members may have an urgent need for the wages that person had earned before his or her death.

Claiming Property With Affidavits

If an estate is small enough, under state law, then inheritors won't have to go to probate court at all.

Probate Shortcuts in Your State

Every state offers some kind of shortcut for "small estates"--which, under some state's rules, can actually be quite large.

How Beneficiaries Can Claim Payable-on-Death Assets

These days, people leave lots of property to inheritors by using "payable-on-death" (POD) or "transfer-on-death" (TOD) designations.

How Joint Owners Can Transfer Survivorship Property After Death

How to document the transfer of property held in joint tenancy and other kinds of survivorship property.