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12 steps for locating a lost life insurance policy

Locating life insurance documents for a deceased relative can be a daunting task. However, with a little sleuthing, you can successfully navigate the paper trail. Here are some strategies to help simplify your search. Look for insurance related documents Search through files, bank safe deposit boxes and other storage places to see if there are any insurance related documents. Also, check address books for the names of any insurance professionals or companies—an agent or company who sold the deceased their auto or home insurance may know about the existence of a life insurance policy. Contact financial advisors Present or prior attorneys, accountants, investment advisors, bankers, business insurance agents/brokers and other financial professionals might have information about the deceased’s life insurance policies. Review life insurance applications The application for each policy is attached to that policy. So if you can find any of the deceased’s life insurance policies, look at the application—will have a list of any other life insurance policies owned at the time of the application. Contact previous employers Former employers maintain records of past group policies. Check bank statements See if any checks or automated payments have been made out to life insurance companies over the years. Check the mail For the year following the death of the policyholder, look for premium notices or dividend notices. If a policy has been paid up, there will no notice of premium payments due; however, the company may still send an annual notice regarding the status of the policy or notice of a dividend. Review income tax returns Look over the deceased’s tax returns for the past two years to see if there is interest income from and interest expenses paid to life insurance companies. Life insurance companies pay interest on accumulations on permanent policies and charge interest on policy loans. Contact state insurance departments State insurance departments offer free search services to residents looking for lost policies. Check with the state’s Unclaimed Property Office If a life insurance company knows that an insured client has died but can’t find the beneficiary, it must turn the death benefit over to the state in which the policy was purchased as “unclaimed property.” If you know (or can guess) where the policy was bought, you can contact the state comptroller’s department to see if it has any unclaimed money from life insurance policies belonging to the deceased. Contact a private search service Several private companies will, for a fee, assist you with the search for a lost life insurance policy. They will contact insurance companies on your behalf to find out if the deceased was insured. This service is often provided through a websites.
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Art auction fetches $922 million for high-profile divorce settlement

More than three years after the high-profile divorce proceedings of New York real estate developer Harry Macklowe and his wife, Linda, their art collection has become the most expensive to ever sell at auction, raking in $922.2 million over the course of two different sales. An initial batch of 35 artworks went under the hammer last November, including pieces by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Cy Twombly. A work by abstract painter Mark Rothko fetched $82.5 million while Jackson Pollock’s “Number 17, 1951” sold for over $61 million to set a new record for the artist’s work. On Monday evening, the final 30 works sold for a combined $246.1 million, with works by Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning, and Agnes Martin. Highlights included another untitled painting by Rothko, which sold for $48 million, and a self-portrait by Warhol that fetched $18.7 million. By the end of the night, it was a “white glove sale,” meaning every work had been sold. Cy Twombly’s untitled work from 2007 sold for almost $59 million in the first auction. Credit: Courtesy of Sotheby’s “It’s a collection that has never been moved (or) touched,” said Grégoire Billault, chairman of contemporary art for Sotheby’s, at a press event announcing the two-part auction last September. “Quite often, when we have collections for sale, a lot of it has been sold already, or some (works) are given to museums; others are given to members of the family.” The Macklowe collection soared past the previous record for the highest value of a single art collection — the Peggy and David Rockefeller Collection, which reached a total of $835.1 million at Christie’s in 2018. The Macklowes married in their early 20s in 1959 and had since accrued all of their significant assets together, including a $72 million apartment, a yacht, and multiple commercial properties, according to court documents. They started their art collection shortly after they married. In 2018, during their divorce proceedings, a New York State Supreme Court judge ordered the Macklowes to sell 65 artworks from their collection and split the profits, after the couple’s hired experts provided vastly different appraisals of what some of the artworks were worth. Valuations for Alberto Giacometti’s existential sculpture “La Nez,” for instance, varied by $30 million. The court decision set off a battle between auction houses Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips to bring the collection to market; the appointed art dealer, Michael Findlay, delayed the decision in 2020 due to the pandemic, according to Artnet. The Giacometti sculpture eventually sold for over $78 million, the second-highest price achieved in the first part of the auction. Elsewhere, Warhol’s “Nine Marilyns” — one of the Pop artist’s famed serial screen prints of Marilyn Monroe — had fetched over $47 million and a Picasso sculpture honoring French poet Apollinaire made over $26 million. At a virtual press event announcing the sale in September, Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart had called the Macklowe Collection “one of the most significant and museum-quality collections of modern and contemporary art ever to come to market.” And what he predicted came true. He added: “This sale will… make history as one of the defining moments in the art market.” Read more at cnn.com
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Shark attack, Little Bay: The victim wouldn’t want the shark to be destroyed

The family of a diving instructor killed by a great white shark in Sydney insisted he would not want the animal to be destroyed. Simon Nellist, 35 – described as a ‘kind, considerate man who loved life’ – died just 100m from horrified beachgoers at Little Bay on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Nellist, who grew up in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, was due to marry his fiancée Jessie Ho this summer. His aunt Jacqui Seager, 62, said yesterday: ‘I don’t think Simon would want the shark to be killed. He loved nature. ‘He swam with sharks before. This isn’t the first time he’s gone out and seen them but he would still go out swimming. That’s brave. ‘I don’t think he ever thought they would hurt him. Sadly, this time it managed to get to him. ‘It’s absolutely horrendous. We are all in shock.’ Photographer Mrs. Seager, of Maidstone, Kent, added: ‘He swam most days. This is just a freak accident. It shows you can’t take life for granted.’ His death at Buchan Point on Wednesday forced authorities to close most beaches. Special ‘drum lines’ – aquatic traps using baited hooks to lure and capture large sharks – were set up in the water. However, they are controversial because sharks have died in them. They also often catch other wildlife. Mr. Nellist had hit out over their use saying they ‘protect no one’ and ‘need to go’. His death comes weeks before ‘smart’ drum lines were reportedly due to be installed which could have prevented the tragedy. Mother-of-three Mrs. Seager said: ‘He told his mum he was going to travel to Australia and that was that. He loved it so much that he stayed. ‘He met his girlfriend Jessie out there. They’re around the same age and instantly hit it off. They’ve been together for years. ‘She is totally in bits, as are his parents. I spoke to them last night and they are beyond belief. ‘They will never get through this – ever – as this is something you keep with you for life. I just feel so sorry for them. ‘They are planning to get out there as soon as they can but need to sort visas out. ‘Everyone was going to fly out there to see him get married in June or July but sadly it is now in much sadder circumstances.’ Mrs. Seager stressed: ‘Simon always loved the sea. He was always very close to it. He loved wildlife and the world. ‘He had a real love affair with nature. He was a very kind and considerate man who just loved life. He was a strong guy and did two tours of Afghanistan. ‘His mum said how could he return from the frontline unscathed to then go to Australia, go out for a swim, and get killed.’ Mr. Nellist served with the UK’s 34 Squadron, based at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire. His shocked parents Mike and Rosemary, of Helston, Cornwall, declined to comment yesterday. Experts believe the shark which killed Mr Nellist on his daily swim was at least 10ft long and might have mistaken his wetsuit for a seal. He had been training for a swimming event on Sunday but it has now been canceled. Dr. Chris Pepin-Neff, of Sydney University, said such shark attacks were incredibly rare, with just ten or 12 of its kind in 30 years around the world. But he added: ‘It’s not crazy for sharks to bite humans thinking we might be prey.’ Mr. Nellist’s friend Della Ross described the diving community’s devastation, saying: ‘Everything that is connected to Simon is connected to the ocean. ‘The news hit us like a truck because he was one of the people who make this Earth lighter.’ Read more at DailyMail.co.uk
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Car breakdown safety

If you are in an accident or your car breaks down, safety should be your first concern. Getting out of the car at a busy intersection or on a highway to change a tire or check damage from a fender bender is probably one of the worst things you can do. The Insurance Information Institute recommends the following precautions when your car breaks down: Never get out of the vehicle to make a repair or examine the damage on a busy highway. Get the vehicle to a safe place before getting out. If you’ve been involved in an accident, motion the other driver to pull up to a safe spot ahead. If you can’t drive the vehicle, it may be safer to stay in the vehicle and wait for help or use a cell phone to summon help. Under most circumstances standing outside the vehicle in the flow of traffic is a bad idea. Carry flares or triangles to use to mark your location once you get to the side of the road. Marking your vehicle’s location to give other drivers advance warning can be critical. Remember to put on your hazard lights! In the case of a blowout or a flat tire, move the vehicle to a safer place before attempting a repair—even if it means destroying the wheel getting there. The cost of a tire, rim, or wheel is minor compared to endangering your safety.
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Sakura – the symbol of Japan

When the god of the mountains offered Ninigi, the grandson of the sun goddess, to marry one of his daughters, he decided that if he gave preference to the eldest, High Rock, the life of their descendants would be eternal and solid, like stones. But if he prefers the youngest, Blooming, then the life of their children, regardless of social status, will be beautiful, but short, like sakura blossom. Ninigi chose Blossom and became the ancestor of the Japanese emperors. The Japanese, annually contemplating the beauty of this amazing plant and looking at the fragility of its flowering, reflect on the fact that beauty is not eternal, but life is fleeting and fragile. That is why it very much resembles a crumbling sakura flower – although it is beautiful, it leaves too soon: it is not for nothing that the blooming sakura symbolizes the frailty of life and the fickleness of being. Description of the tree Sakura is the name for trees of the pink family, the plum subfamily (the species is finely sawed cherry), most of which perform a purely decorative function: they bloom, but do not bear fruit (unlike other trees of its kind, Japanese sakura is grown not for the sake of berries, but for flowers). There are 16 types of sakura and more than 400 varieties. Despite the fact that cherry trees can be found mainly in the south of the northern hemisphere: in China, Korea, in the Himalayas, most of the trees of this species grow in Japan: nine out of sixteen species and a considerable number of varieties. There are especially a lot of someyoshino (white sakura with huge flowers) and shidarezakura (weeping willow) – this sakura color has a pink tint. Sakura grows very well next to other plants of its kind, which, depending on how they were planted, make a different impression. For example, tree branches planted in parallel rows at the top can intertwine with each other, forming a flowering arch above your head – it looks especially gorgeous if at this time the flowers have already begun to gradually fall off and a person steps on the carpet that created sakura petals. The height of the plant depends on its age, but usually it is about 8 meters (but there are also taller trees, for example, one of the oldest cherry blossoms in the world, whose age is 1800 years, has about 24 meters in height). The bark is smooth, cut across the entire surface of the tree with small horizontal cracks of a gray, green or red hue, and the wood of the tree is very flexible due to the high amount of resin in it. Leaves are oval or spear-shaped with slightly jagged edges. When a sakura branch blooms, it is completely covered with flowers, mainly white or pink, with each inflorescence consisting of several double flowers, usually having 5 petals. The Japanese managed to breed species whose flowers contain about 50 petals, the diameter of which is about 50-60 mm – outwardly they even resemble roses, peonies, chrysanthemums. Sakura petals can be of different colors: white sakura and pink are often found, but you can often see flowers of red, crimson, yellow and even green and variegated tones. Since the sakura flowers bloom even before the sakura leaves appear on the tree, it seems as if a huge number of delicate inflorescences are stuck to the dead and bare trunk (therefore, the flowering period in Japan is also associated with rebirth). When the sakura petals start to fade, but have not fallen from the tree yet, and the cherry blossom sprig is overgrown with the first leaves, the plant looks extremely elegant and summer-like (the Japanese call it Ha-Dzakura, which means “sakura with leaves”). Few trees of this species bear fruit, and if they do yield, the sakura (sakurambo) fruits are usually very small, cherry-colored, have a large stone, tightly covered with thin pulp, and taste very sour and tart. They are sold in small boxes and are extremely expensive. Flowering time Sakura bloom begins in January on about. Okinawa (located in the south) and ends at about. Hokkaido, thus moving north. The period when this tree blooms largely depends on its species: some plants begin to bloom in winter, others – at the end of spring. For example, such well-known species as: Fuyu-Dzakura – blooms in the last month of autumn; Yama-dzarkura – early plant, blooms at the end of March; Someyoshino – in early April; Yae-zakura – in the middle of spring; Kasumi-zakura – in early May. When the flower is fully open, it stays that way for about a week. How long it will bloom depends largely on the weather and temperature – the colder it is, the longer it will be possible to contemplate the sakura flowers. But strong winds and rain, on the contrary, will significantly reduce sakura bloom. Hanami Festival The sakura blossom in Japan is celebrated at the state level: the official opening of Hanami (“Contemplation of Flowers”) takes place in the main Tokyo park Shinjuku – and not only famous politicians, but also members of the imperial family take part in it. Hanami Festival The sakura blossom in Japan is celebrated at the state level: the official opening of Hanami (“Contemplation of Flowers”) takes place in the main Tokyo park Shinjuku – and not only famous politicians, but also members of the imperial family take part in it. During this period, numerous gardens, parks, squares and other places where the cherry tree blooms are visited by a huge number of people, viewing in the evening is especially popular, when the sakura branch is very beautifully highlighted. Contemplating, people arrange picnics, relax, and often use the Hanami holiday in their personal interests – they negotiate, strengthen contacts, make new acquaintances. Using wood in everyday life From the fruits of this plant, the Japanese make sour wine or add to rice during cooking. Leaves and petals are also used – >>Read more
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