We are in Missouri and my mother recently passed. We need to make sure we have identified all assets and are unsure how to proceed in finding if there are other insurance policies or investments. What can we do other than run a traditional credit report?
For my parents when I took over their financials, I gathered up all the paperwork they had at home and sorted through it. I found some life insurance policies but found out they had cashed them all in. I found monthly statements for the stocks which some were with a broker, that was a relief. Then I found some that were stored on-line with a brokerage where one could do their own selling and buying. I found all their blank checks and matched bank statements.
Now some elders will have stock from decades ago that are paper stock that could be in a safe deposit box somewhere, or in a lock box in their home.
Call your insurance carrier and ask him/her if there is any way one could find out if a parent had life insurance policies. Maybe the insurance carrier has a way to trace this down.
Look for your Mother's past income tax returns. Usually capital gains or dividends have to be declared as "income".
For investment assets, search their records for quarterly statements. Depending on the type of investment product, they may arrive at the end of each quarter or about 15 days after the end of each quarter. The third quarter asset summaries have probably all been sent (we've received all of ours). You may have to wait until the end of the year to ensure that you get statement summaries from all her investments.
In the meantime, provide a certified copy of the Testamentary Letter to the post office so first class mail can be forwarded to your address. Then you'll get the December/January end of year investment statements.
Also check her bank accounts to see if there are automatic deposits.
I'm sorry for your loss.