I am in the process of making pre-need arrangements with the funeral home and am only able to find a small life insurance policy. Is there a way to search to find if someone has life insurance?

Thank you all for the feedback. This is good information.

I hope we did not hijack your thread about finding out about life insurance. Did she have an insurance company that she was loyal to? Some credit unions give a complimentary $1K life policy to their members. Did she have a safety deposit box at her bank? Some mortgage lenders require life policies....Hope those clues may help.

If you can't get coverage or find there is none, I'd do a lot of research on burial and/or cremation. My LO wanted burial, so, I did research to discover that you can save a lot if you know what is and is not required. It varies by state, but check your state laws. The funeral home may give you the impression that you have to purchase this or that, when it's not true.

Most places allow direct burial and it saves thousands of dollars. You don't have to have embalming, in some places, if no viewing is done and there is direct burial. Also, you can order caskets online with great savings. They ship to the funeral home and they have to accept it. I'd question if they can get you one for less than what they show you in the showroom. Also there are all kinds of services that they may charge you, that you may not need. You can also go green, which means, you are buried in a natural container, like wicker.  It's designed to protect the environment, but, also offers costs savings, if your loved one, was into that kind of thing.

  There are options that can mean the difference in thousands of dollars. You can always have a memorial service later, that is free if not handled by the funeral home and have family meet at someone's home for the wake, especially if there are only family members or a few people who may show up. There are lots of sites online that give you lots of tips about how to cut down costs and still get what you need.

What is your religious belief about cremation? Anyone in the family object? It will save you over 10-12K on a funeral. My mother's funeral was a very simple affair with no family cars, no big bells and whistles...still over $13,000. Now when it comes to Dad, I hope I still have the $ to do it. I have one brother who objects to cremation. Of course, I will have to do the logistics and probably get criticized for being "too secular". Argh!

I am interested in what the rest of the gang have to say here.

Yes, the Insurance Information Institute (iii dot org) has an article on their site, 12 steps to locating a lost life insurance policy .