Losing someone often means facing a financial life you know very little about. Sunset's job is to find all of it, so you aren't left guessing about what existed or worrying that something was missed. Here's exactly what we search, what we need from you, and how long it takes.

Before the search can begin, we verify a few things. This protects the estate from fraud and makes sure only a verified family member, executor, or personal representative can see the results.

You'll upload a copy. Photographing it with your phone works fine, and so does an existing scan or PDF.

As soon as you upload your photo ID, our system validates your identity automatically. The death certificate is reviewed automatically as well. There's no waiting period and no manual review queue.

Once both clear, your search begins immediately.

During setup, you select which categories to include. You can run all of them or only the ones relevant to your situation.

One thing to weigh before you choose. Life insurance is the only category where searching requires notifying the carrier of the death. That notification is what allows a carrier to check its records for a policy, so there's no way to search insurance quietly. Every other category is searched without any financial institution being told your loved one died.

If you'd rather no insurance carrier be contacted yet, leave life insurance out of your selection. You can add it later.

Most searches finish in 7 to 14 days. Some run longer, usually because a bank is slow returning a confirmation. We'd rather tell you that up front than promise a number we can't hold to.

Sunset holds your results until every search you requested has finished. We don't release them piece by piece.

There's a reason for this. Nearly every early decision in an estate depends on the total, not the pieces. Whether the estate clears your state's small estate threshold, which probate path applies, what you tell the other heirs. A partial list can send you down the wrong road and cost you weeks. Waiting for the complete picture is faster than starting over.

While the search runs, your dashboard shows a status for each category you selected:

So you can always see how much is left, even while the findings themselves stay sealed. Your debt search might read finished, your bank search in progress, and your investment search not started, all at the same time.

If your dashboard looks quiet, that's expected. Nothing is wrong, and nothing is needed from you. We'll email you when results are ready.

A complete picture of what was owed, validated directly against all three major credit bureaus:

An important note about debt. In most cases you are not personally responsible for your loved one's debts. If they were solely responsible and the debt wasn't backed by a physical asset like a home or vehicle, it can often be charged off entirely. Joint debts stay with the surviving co-borrower, often a spouse. Sunset flags any debt with a living responsible party so you know which is which.

Separately from the search, Sunset offers a free tool that notifies all three credit bureaus of the death, which stops new credit being opened in your loved one's name. It's worth doing early. See our article on reporting a death to the credit bureaus.

This is usually the longest-running part of the search. We cover every major US bank along with local banks and credit unions, looking for:

We surface account numbers, balances, and transaction history, all without notifying the bank of the death and without needing any passwords or login credentials.

If your loved one owned a small business, its bank accounts are searched too. Business accounts are easy to overlook and painful to chase down manually, since a bank generally won't discuss a business account with someone who can't first prove their connection to the business. We find them so you know they exist before you start making calls.

We scan major custodians, employers, and government sources, including Fidelity, Schwab, Empower, Vanguard, Voya, and small fund managers across the country:

Sunset has located billions of dollars in retirement assets for families.

We search custodians, transfer agents, and fund managers, without notifying them of the death:

Sunset has discovered billions of dollars in investment assets for families.

We check major carriers, group plans, and government programs so no benefit goes unclaimed:

Remember: selecting this category authorizes Sunset to notify carriers of the death, which is required to search their records.

We search nationwide property and address records in all 50 states, covering residential property, vacation homes, rentals, and land. Results include ownership and co-owner details, lien and tax information, transfer-on-death designations, and address history that can point to accounts at institutions near where your loved one lived.

If a property needs to be sold, Sunset can help. See our article on selling estate real estate for how that works.

We search vehicle records in all 50 states and report what we find, including ownership, payoff amounts on any loan, and title details such as joint titling or a transfer-on-death designation. This covers cars and trucks, motorcycles, campers and motorhomes, boats and other titled vessels, work and fleet vehicles, trailers, and off-highway vehicles like snowmobiles and side-by-sides.

Vehicles are discovery only. Sunset reports what exists so nothing is missed, but we don't handle title transfers, DMV filings, or vehicle sales. Your state's DMV can walk you through the transfer process, which is usually straightforward. If you sell a vehicle, the proceeds can be deposited into the estate or trust bank account so the money stays documented alongside everything else.

We search all 50 states for business interests, including LLC membership interests, corporation ownership and officer roles, partnership interests, and registered sole proprietorships and DBAs. Business entities are governed by their own private contracts such as operating agreements and bylaws, so how each one resolves can vary.

We check state unclaimed property databases for assets that were turned over to the state and forgotten:

Sunset provides direct links to state claim portals, pre-fills claim forms where possible, and helps you gather or generate whatever the state requires.

No, with the single exception of life insurance described above. During the search, Sunset does not notify banks, credit unions, brokerages, retirement custodians, or any other institution that your loved one has died.

This matters more than it might sound. Once a bank learns of a death, it typically restricts the account. Checks bounce, autopay stops, and a surviving joint owner can lose access to money they need for daily expenses. Searching quietly first means you get the full picture while everything stays exactly where it is, and you decide when each institution gets notified.

An institution hears from us only when you ask Sunset to close and transfer that specific account.

You'll get an email as soon as your results are released, and everything appears in your dashboard at once. From there, nothing moves without your say-so.

You can go at your own pace. Some families move quickly, others take months between steps. Sunset is here whenever you're ready.

Not directly, but better information improves matching and reduces the chance of a slow confirmation. Helpful things to have on hand:

If you have paperwork for a specific account, upload it in the Documents tab. Our software reads the information and uses it to help close that account later.

You can get started with just a name and phone number. More detail improves accuracy, but it isn't required to begin.

Email [email protected] with the institution name and any details you have. We can run a targeted search for that specific institution and add it to your results. If you found an account on your own, we can add it to your dashboard so it's handled alongside everything else.

Sunset helps with deaths that occurred within the past three years. After that, records get archived and search results become unreliable enough that we'd rather be upfront than hand you an incomplete picture.

No. Sunset is free for families. We never charge you and never take a percentage of the estate. Our bank partners pay us a fee based on interest generated from estate bank accounts, so every dollar of your loved one's assets goes to the beneficiaries and heirs.

Discovery is the fast part. Closing accounts depends on the institutions, and they set that pace, not us. Some move quickly and many take several weeks. You stay in control the whole time.

If you have questions about your search or your results, reach out. You can use the chat in the app, call us at (385) 707-0082, or email [email protected]. We answer email within one business day and usually much faster.