U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

If you have Option C - Family insurance, you are the beneficiary. No designation is permitted under the law. Payment will be made to you in a lump sum. If you should die after the death of an insured family member but before payment of your claim, payment will be made to the person (or persons) to whom your Basic life insurance benefits are payable.

If an insured family member (your spouse or eligible child as described in Option C - Family insurance, page 9) dies, you should call us, use the Internet, or write to us for the appropriate claim form (Form FE6-DEP). This form provides complete instructions for filing your claim. (You should not request this form unless the benefit becomes payable due to the death of an eligible family member.)

If we are withholding premiums for Option C from your annuity and you no longer have an eligible family member, you should notify us so we can stop withholding premiums.

In the event of your death, any eligible family member can convert his or her own coverage to an individual policy within 31 days after your death or within 31 days after he or she receives our notice of the right to convert, if later.

You may elect to receive a lump-sum payment called a living benefit if you are terminally ill and have a documented medical prognosis that you are not expected to live more than nine months. Eligible annuitants may elect a full lump-sum payment equal to their Basic life insurance amount, plus any extra benefit for persons who are under age 45, that would be in effect nine months after the date the Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI) receives a completed claim for living benefits. If the life insurance is reducing, the lump sum will be the reduced amount payable nine months after OFEGLI receives the completed claim form. Annuitants cannot elect a partial living benefit payment; this option is available only to employees.

If you have assigned your life insurance coverage, neither you nor the assignee may elect living benefits. However, if you elected a living benefit, you may assign any remaining life insurance.

Your living benefits payment will be reduced by a nominal amount to make up for lost earnings to the Life Insurance Fund because of the early payment of benefits.

If you receive living benefits after retirement, no Basic life insurance will be payable after your death. We will stop withholding any Basic life insurance premiums from your monthly annuity. If you elected living benefits before you retired, the amount of Basic life insurance payable after your death and the premiums we withhold from your annuity depend upon the amount of living benefits you received before retirement.

Your election of living benefits has no effect on the amount of any optional life insurance you may have. We will continue to withhold any premiums for optional insurance.

You may contact the Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance at 1-800-633-4542 to obtain Form FE-8, Claim for Living Benefits, to elect living benefits. This form is not available from agencies or from your retirement system.