DEATH OF A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE!

When an active or retired Federal Employee dies there are steps that the surviving family members need to take.

First

FEGLI (Federal Employee Basic Life Insurance). The Majority of active Federal Employee’s will have the Basic Life Insurance. This amount is their annual salary rounded up plus an extra $2,000.00. Example: Salary $47,722.00, round up to $48,000.00 + $2,000.00 = $50,000.00 policy. The Majority of Retired Federal Employee’s take a 75% reduction which from our example they would end up with a $12,500.00 policy. They might also have Part A ($10,000.00 policy) or Part B (up to 5 times their base salary). All Federal Employees will need to fill out the application forms with instructions in the link Below. If you are an IRS employee, you can also call ERC (Employee Resource Center) at 866-743-5748 and use prompts #1 and then #3 to for help. You will need the deceased name, social security number, date of birth and death certificate.

The FEGLI Death Benefit application, instructions and mailing address are in this link (copy and paste):

Second

Death in Service (actively employed). If the employee dies while still working the spouse may be entitled to 50% of the base pay plus an additional $15,000.00. If the death occurred after December 1, 2016, the spouse may get 50% of base pay plus an additional $32,423.56 (adjusted to COLA). To get this benefit the employee must have 18 months of credible service and have been married for at least 9 months. A former spouse may receive this benefit (whole or in part) if a qualifying court order awarded a benefit. The former spouse must have been marred to the deceased for 9 months and did not get married again until after the age of 55.

Children may also be eligible for a monthly survivor benefit If the deceased worked for at least 10 years (18 months of which must be civilian service).

Death as a retiree. The Surviving Spouse may receive the Survivor Monthly Annuity if it was selected at the time of separation from Service. A former spouse would receive this benefit if it was awarded through a court order. Note you will need the CSA Claim number of the deceased. This number can be found on the 1099 R Form. When a spouse files for this survivor annuity, OPM will issue them their own CSF number, which refers to their survivor annuity.

CSRS Survivor may also be entitled to select a lump Sum plus interest of any remaining principle in there CSRS account in place of the monthly annuity.

The FERS Death Benefit application, instructions and mailing address are in this link (copy and paste):

The CSRS Death Benefit application, instructions and mailing address are in this link (copy and paste):

The following is a link to the OPM Overview of Death Benefits (copy and paste)

https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/survivors/#url=Overview

Paul Thornton

United Benefits

paul@unitedbenefits.com

423.309.2768

Fax: 423.370.1296