HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A bill that has been signed into law by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock requires life insurance companies to search for beneficiaries when a policyholder dies, even if no claims have been submitted.

The law was a response to a series of national settlement agreements in which life insurance companies were charged with making little to no effort to find beneficiaries, instead keeping death benefits for years before turning them over to states as unclaimed property.

Senate Bill 34, requested by Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen and sponsored by Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, requires life insurance companies to check a Social Security Administration file at least twice a year to find out if any of its policyholders have died. In those cases, the company must determine if any surviving family members are owed money and pay the benefits or turn over the money to the state as unclaimed property.