Documents
The documents you need to claim a deceased person's assets
Published August 1, 2026 · 5 min read
Nearly every institution — banks, insurers, state treasuries, pension administrators — asks for a similar set of documents. Assembling them properly at the start saves an enormous amount of repeated effort.
The most common delay is not a missing document. It is having the wrong version of one.
Certified death certificates, and more than one
A certified copy carries a raised seal or official mark from the issuing vital-records office. Photocopies and scans are usually rejected, and many institutions keep the copy they are given rather than returning it.
Because of that, families frequently order several at once. Ordering additional copies later is possible but slower, and it stalls every claim in the meantime.
Proof of your authority to act
Institutions need to know you are entitled to ask. What proves that depends on your role: a court appointment as executor or administrator, a surviving spouse's marriage certificate, or a beneficiary designation naming you directly.
Where a court appointment is required, it is usually the longest-lead item — which is why starting it early tends to unblock everything else.
Identifying details for the search itself
Searching for assets is a matching problem. The more identifying detail you can supply, the more confidently a record can be tied to the right person — and the fewer false matches you have to rule out.
- Full legal name, plus maiden names, nicknames and spelling variants
- Every address from the last few decades, not just the most recent
- Date of birth and date of death
- Social Security number, where an institution requires it
- Former employers, which point to pensions and retirement plans
- Names of banks, insurers or brokerages the family remembers
Keep a record of what you sent, and where
Claims run on different timelines across institutions, and some take months. A simple log of what was sent, to whom, and when turns a confusing process into a manageable one — and gives you something concrete to reference when following up.
Official sources
Every source below is free to use directly. Heirlytics is not affiliated with any of them.
This guide explains how these processes generally work. It is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and rules vary by state. Heirlytics is not a law firm, financial advisor, or government agency. For advice about your specific situation, speak to a qualified professional.