Help needed

Hi Reddit, someone close to me (my dad’s best friend, not blood-related) recently passed away. He cared for my sister and I for a while after my father’s death and we stayed pretty close as I entered adulthood. As for my father’s friend’s death, there was no foul play involved, he had cancer for several years and it got a lot more aggressive very quickly. About 4 or 5 years ago he named me a beneficiary of a life insurance policy (if I remember correctly it wasn’t a huge sum, maybe $25,000). Long story short, I gave him some personal info, may or may not have signed some forms, and forgot all about it until now. We only spoke about it maybe one other time between then and now so I am assuming nothing has changed in regards to me being listed as the beneficiary. I have absolutely no idea how life insurance works. Will the insurance company contact me? Do I have to contact them? I’m not even sure which life insurance company the policy would be under. Any and all help regarding next steps would be appreciated.