FEGLI Survivor and Accidental Death Benefits: What Your Family Gets

What FEGLI Actually Pays When You Die

FEGLI is straightforward about its core function: it pays a lump-sum death benefit to your survivors. No annuity stream, no installment payments, no investment component. Your beneficiaries file a claim, OFEGLI processes it, and a check is mailed.

But the amount depends on which coverages you carried, which reduction elections you made, your age at death for the Extra Benefit, and whether the death qualifies as accidental for AD&D. Most federal employees know their Basic Insurance Amount but have never calculated what the total payout would actually be across all coverage types.

Basic Coverage Death Benefit

Your Basic Insurance Amount (BIA) is your annual salary rounded up to the nearest $1,000, plus $2,000. If you earn $95,300, your BIA is $98,000.

After retirement, the BIA paid at death depends on your reduction election:

75% Reduction (default). After the reduction completes (2% per month starting the second month after 65 or retirement, whichever is later), the death benefit stabilizes at 25% of your original BIA. For a $98,000 BIA, that's a $24,500 floor — and it costs nothing.

50% Reduction. Reduces 1% per month to a 50% floor — $49,000 on a $98,000 BIA. You pay $0.75 per $1,000 per month ($73.50/month) for life after 65.

No Reduction. The full $98,000 stays in force for life, at $2.25 per $1,000 per month ($220.50/month) after 65.

The Extra Benefit for Employees Under 45

Active employees who die before age 45 receive an Extra Benefit on their Basic coverage. The Extra Benefit equals your BIA for deaths before age 36 and is reduced by 10% of the extra amount for each year from age 36 through 44.

At age 36, 90% of the Extra Benefit remains; by age 44, 10% remains. At age 45, the Extra Benefit disappears entirely.

For most people approaching retirement at 55–62, the Extra Benefit is long gone. It's relevant mainly for career planning — understanding why your total FEGLI coverage was higher than your BIA earlier in your career.

Accidental Death and Dismemberment

Basic FEGLI coverage includes an Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) provision at no additional cost while you are an active employee. If your death qualifies as accidental under FEGLI's terms, your beneficiaries receive an additional payment equal to your BIA on top of the standard death benefit.

For dismemberment — loss of a hand, foot, or eyesight in one or both eyes — the AD&D provision pays a portion of the BIA to you directly:

• Loss of two or more (hands, feet, or eyes): 100% of BIA
• Loss of one (hand, foot, or one eye): 50% of BIA

AD&D does not continue in retirement. It applies to active employees with Basic coverage, with the payment based on the BIA in effect at the time of the accident.

Option A, B, and C Death Benefits

Option A (Standard). Pays a flat $10,000 during your career, reducing to a $2,500 floor after 65. There's no reduction election — it reduces automatically. After the reduction completes, the $2,500 benefit costs nothing for life.

Option B (Additional). Each multiple provides coverage equal to your salary (rounded to the next $1,000). If you carry 5 multiples with a $98,000 salary, that's $490,000 of coverage. Under Full Reduction, Option B goes to zero over 50 months after 65. Under No Reduction, it stays at the full amount but with escalating age-banded premiums.

Option C (Family). Pays $5,000 per multiple on your spouse's death and $2,500 per multiple on an eligible child's death. This pays to you (or your estate), not to the family member — you're the policyholder.

Who Gets the Money: Order of Precedence

If you've filed SF 2823 (Designation of Beneficiary), the proceeds normally go to whoever you named, subject to any valid court order or assignment. OPM follows the most recent SF 2823 on file, regardless of your will, trust, verbal instructions, or current marital status.

If you haven't filed an SF 2823, or if all named beneficiaries predecease you, OPM follows the statutory order of precedence:

1. Surviving spouse
2. Children (in equal shares)
3. Parents (in equal shares)
4. Executor or administrator of the estate
5. Next of kin

The most common problem: an SF 2823 filed decades ago that still names an ex-spouse. OPM is legally required to pay the named beneficiary — a divorce decree alone does not change the designation. You must file a new SF 2823.

Claim Processing Timelines

FEGLI death claims are processed by the Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI), not by OPM's retirement services division. The claimant files form FE-6 (Claim for Death Benefits) with supporting documentation (death certificate, proof of identity).

Processing times vary and depend on receipt of complete documentation. The claim can be delayed if the beneficiary designation is contested, if the death circumstances require investigation (for the AD&D provision), or if the documentation is incomplete.

For a complete mapping of how each coverage component interacts with your retirement election — including how to calculate the total death benefit your family would receive under different reduction scenarios — the FEGLI Retirement Decision Guide provides the full analysis framework.

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