Can an executor of estate get a background on recent activity under the deceased name?

Would like to find some resource to help my boyfriend. He became the executor of the estate when he lost his Mother. His family members took paper work. He is not sure if there was a life insurance policy or not. Can he find out if someone has cashed that in? Can he find out if she had one and he just does not know?

He is the executor according to the will and trust.

I know he needs to do the looking into it and such. I just want to help him cause I am worried that his family will take advantage.

If the life insurance policy has as its named beneficiary, the death benefits are not the property of the estate or trust. They belong to the named beneficiary.

Your boy friend should demand copies of all documents, checking account statements, canceled checks, prior year tax returns, and the like from the family members who may have taken them. If that does not work, a letter from the attorney with a threat of getting a subpoena for those records would be successful.

I would start my search for information by reviewing canceled checks and checking account statements. If there were payments out of a checking account for insurance premiums, then I would make an inquiry of that insurance company. If other members of the family have those documents, your boy friend can get copies of everything from the bank for a "reasonable" fee upon presenting proof that he was commissioned by the court as executor.

I would also contact Mother's employer to see if she was covered by any group insurance through the employer. The people at the HR or personnel department can help you.

If all of that does not work, then I would telephone every insurance office in town and ask if Mother was an insurance client.

Your boy friend needs to hire a good estate attorney. You should insist that he get legal counsel.

What made him the executor of the estate? Is he his mother's named Personal Representative in her will? He can't just find out if an account he doesn't know about was cashed in in the blink of an eye. He's got to do his own research and FIND OUT if she DOES have a life insurance policy - he needs to get her actual policy - the account number, etc. Only the beneficiary of the account can cash it in. If you're saying that his family members are the ones with all this information, then he needs to get it from them. AND just because he's the executor of the estate doesn't mean he's entitled to ANY of the estate's assets. His mother could have unpaid bills that creditors are entitled to. He should really see an Elder Law attorney for this matter.