SF 3104: How to Complete the FERS Death Benefit Claim Form

What SF 3104 Opens

Standard Form 3104 — Application for Death Benefits Under the Federal Employees Retirement System — is the single form that initiates three separate claims with OPM:

1. The FERS Basic Employee Death Benefit (BEDB): a lump sum of 50% of final pay plus $43,800.53 (2026 figure), or the equivalent spread over 36 monthly installments
2. The FERS monthly survivor annuity: 50% of the employee's earned basic annuity, payable for life (requires 10+ years of total creditable service)
3. FEHB or PSHB health insurance continuation: handled through OPM alongside the death-benefit application; ask agency HR or OPM which health-benefit election paperwork is required

You do not submit SF 3104 directly to OPM yourself. The form goes to the deceased employee's agency HR office, which certifies the personnel records, attaches the Official Personnel Folder, and forwards the entire package to OPM's Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania.

Walking Through the Form

Section 1: Information About the Deceased Employee

Name, date of birth, Social Security number, agency and duty station, date of death, and retirement system coverage (FERS). If you do not know the employee's exact creditable service years, leave that field blank — OPM calculates it from the personnel folder.

Section 2: Information About the Applicant

Your full legal name, SSN, date of birth, address, and relationship to the deceased. If you are a surviving spouse, include your marriage date — OPM verifies the nine-month marriage requirement for the BEDB (waived if the death was accidental or a child was born of the marriage).

Section 3: Payment Elections

This is where you choose how to receive the BEDB:

• Lump sum: one payment covering the full amount
• 36 monthly installments: each installment equals the total BEDB multiplied by the factor 0.0294259

The installment option does not earn interest — the factor is actuarial, not an amortization schedule. Most survivors choose the lump sum unless they specifically need structured monthly cash flow.

Section 4: Beneficiary Designation and Order of Precedence

If the employee filed an SF 3102 (Designation of Beneficiary for FERS), that form controls who receives any refund of FERS retirement contributions. It does not control the BEDB, which follows separate surviving-spouse and former-spouse eligibility rules. If no SF 3102 was filed, 5 U.S.C. § 8424(d) sets the order for a contribution refund: surviving spouse; children and descendants of deceased children by representation; parents; executor or administrator; then next of kin under state law.

Section 5: Signatures and Certification

The applicant signs under penalty of perjury. If multiple eligible survivors exist (e.g., a surviving spouse and a former spouse with a court order), each files their own SF 3104.

SF 3104B: The Companion Form

SF 3104B — Documentation in Support of Application for Death Benefits — accompanies SF 3104 and provides applicant certified statements, marriage verification, and bank deposit instructions.

Do not skip SF 3104B. OPM requires it alongside SF 3104; an incomplete package can delay the claim.

Required Attachments

Along with SF 3104 and SF 3104B, the package needs:

• Certified death certificate (original or certified copy with registrar's seal)
• Marriage certificate (if claiming as a surviving spouse)
• Birth certificates for any children claiming survivor annuities
• Divorce decree and any court orders if a former spouse is involved
• Proof of full-time student status for children between 18 and 22

The employing agency adds its own documents, including the certified Individual Retirement Record (SF 3100), payroll records, and personnel folder, before forwarding the package to OPM. SF 2821 certifies FEGLI coverage and is sent separately to OFEGLI.

Common Mistakes That Delay Processing

Filing directly with OPM instead of through the agency. OPM needs the agency-certified package. A form mailed directly to Boyers without the personnel folder gets returned.

Confusing SF 3104 with SF 2800. SF 2800 is the CSRS death benefit application. FERS employees use SF 3104. Filing the wrong form restarts the process from scratch.

Omitting SF 3104B. This supporting form accompanies the SF 3104 application. An incomplete package can delay OPM's processing.

Not ordering enough death certificates. You will need separate certified copies for OPM, OFEGLI, TSP, Social Security, and potentially the agency payroll office. Order at least 10 to 12 copies from the vital records office.

Processing Timeline

Once OPM receives the complete package from the employing agency, monthly survivor annuity claims average 35 days to process. OPM typically issues interim monthly payments of about 70–80% of the estimated entitlement while the final computation is completed. BEDB lump-sum claims (where no monthly annuity is due) average 129 days.

The bottleneck is usually the employing agency — certifying the personnel folder and transmitting it to OPM can take two to six weeks depending on the agency's HR workload.

If you are filing SF 3104 alongside the FEGLI claim, TSP death benefit, unpaid compensation, and Social Security, the Federal Employee Death Benefits Claims Guide maps out which form goes where and in what order.

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