A relative has just died. He had a life insurance policy with you listed as the beneficiary. There's just one problem: the life insurance policy is missing. You have no idea which insurance company wrote it. 

If you find the missing  life insurance policy  in the future, are you still eligible to receive the death benefit? 

The American Cancer Society estimates doctors will diagnose over 1.4 million new cases of  cancer  in the U.S. in 2007, with more than 559,650 cancer-related deaths. If you are among the majority of cancer patients and survive for at least five years following your diagnosis, you may face another fight: buying life insurance.

Buying life insurance for cancer patients is challenging, but not necessarily impossible. Your chances for securing a policy depend greatly on the type, stage and grade of the cancer, and even on the treatment plan. There is a relationship between the rate you'll receive and the curability of your cancer. Certain types of skin cancer, for example, are considered very low risk by life insurance companies and a skin cancer history may not even impact premiums.