How to Find a Deceased Spouse’s Bank Accounts and Life Insurance

There was a policy, probably. There is a bank, but the account is in his name alone, and the bank will not talk to you. Grief is hard enough without an administrative scavenger hunt.

Finding what is there

Start with the paper trail rather than with the institutions. The last several years of tax returns show interest, dividends, and retirement distributions, and every one of those points to an account. Mail and email over the following 12 months surfaces statements, premium notices, and required minimum distribution letters. Old checkbooks, a safe deposit box, and an address book fill gaps.

Then work the searchable systems. The NAIC operates a life insurance policy locator service that queries participating insurers. Each state runs an unclaimed property database, and searching every state where the decedent lived or worked matters because dormant accounts escheat. Former employers should be asked about group life coverage, pensions, and unclaimed retirement balances, which are frequently forgotten. Credit reports can reveal accounts and lenders the family never knew about.

What passes without probate at all

Before opening an estate, determine what is already outside it. Life insurance with a named beneficiary, retirement accounts, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, jointly held property with survivorship rights, and property covered by a recorded transfer on death deed all pass by designation rather than by will. For those, the process is a claim form and a death certificate, not a court.

The small estate affidavit

Where probate is needed but the estate is modest, both states offer a shortcut, and the two are shaped quite differently.

In Texas, a small estate affidavit under Tex. Est. Code ch.

205 is available where there is no will, the value of the estate assets excluding homestead and exempt property does not exceed $75,000, and the assets exceed the known liabilities other than those secured by exempt property. It can transfer the homestead but not other real property. Texas also offers the affidavit of heirship, which is a title clearing tool rather than a court proceeding, and is commonly used for real property.

In Illinois, the small estate affidavit under 755 ILCS 5/25-1 now reaches personal property up to $150,000, a threshold raised from $100,000 in 2025, and vehicles registered with the Secretary of State no longer count toward the limit. The critical limitation is that an Illinois small estate affidavit cannot transfer real estate at all. If the decedent owned a home in their own name, Illinois probate is required regardless of value.

That single difference drives a great deal of planning. It is the reason Illinois homeowners should look hard at a transfer on death instrument or a trust, because in Illinois the house is what forces the courthouse door open.

This week: Pull the last three years of tax returns and mark every source of interest, dividends, and retirement income. Search the NAIC policy locator and the unclaimed property database of every state where he lived or worked. Call his former employers about group life and pensions.

If you are trying to piece together what a spouse left behind, bring what you have found and let us tell you which parts need a court. Call or text 512.761.8479.