Life Insurance Through Work: How to Check After a Death

Life insurance through work is one of the most common kinds of coverage, and one of the easiest to miss after a death. It is paid by the employer or through payroll deductions, so there is no bill at home and often no policy in the filing cabinet. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in March 2026, 59 percent of private industry workers and 84 percent of state and local government workers had access to life insurance through their job.

Here is who to ask, what to ask for, and what happens to work coverage when someone changes jobs or retires.

Start With the Current or Last Employer

Call the HR or benefits office and tell them the employee has died. Have a certified death certificate ready, along with the person's full name, date of birth and Social Security number. Then ask:

• Did they have basic group life insurance through the job?
• Did they buy supplemental or optional life insurance on top of it?
• Which insurance company holds the coverage?
• What does the plan need from the beneficiary to file a claim?

You can also ask for the plan's summary plan description, the plain-language booklet that explains the benefit and how to claim it. If you are not the beneficiary, the employer may not share the details with you; it is still worth asking them to make sure the beneficiary knows.

Former Employers

Group coverage usually ends when a job ends, but not always right away, and not always completely. Many plans keep coverage in force for a short period after someone leaves and let them convert it to an individual policy without a medical exam. New Jersey's published rules for its public employees are a typical example: coverage continues for 31 days after employment ends, and it can be converted to an individual policy within that window.

That creates three things worth checking with each former employer:

• Did they die soon after leaving? Coverage may still have been in force.
• Did they convert or carry the coverage with them? A converted policy becomes an individual policy with an insurer, so it may also turn up when you check individual insurers.
• Did they retire from that employer? See the next section.

Retirees

Some employers keep a smaller amount of life insurance in force for retirees. In New Jersey's public plan, for example, some members keep a reduced amount of coverage after they retire. Federal retirees can keep Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Basic coverage into retirement if they meet the program's rules; under the default choice it reduces over time and costs nothing once the reductions begin. Ask the retirement plan or pension office, not only the old HR department.

Unions

Some unions offer life insurance to members through a benefit fund. If the person belonged to a union, call the local or the fund's office and ask whether there was a death benefit or life insurance for members or retirees.

Federal Civilian Jobs

FEGLI is the federal government's group life insurance program for employees and retirees. The Office of Personnel Management says to report the death of a current employee to the human resources office of their agency, and the death of a retiree to OPM (online at opm.gov/ReportDeath or at 1-888-767-6738). Claims are paid by the Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI), a private office under contract with the government, using Form FE-6, which must be printed and mailed with a certified death certificate. Our guide to SGLI, VGLI and FEGLI after a death has the details.

State and Local Government Jobs

Teachers, police officers, and state and city workers often have life insurance through their employer or a state retirement system. Ask the employer's benefits office and the retirement system they belonged to.

Your Rights Under Private Employer Plans

Most benefit plans offered by private-sector employers are governed by a federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Among other things, it requires plans to give participants information about the plan and to have a process for claims and appeals. Under the Labor Department's claims rules, a claimant can get copies of the documents relevant to their claim free of charge. Plans run by government employers and by churches are generally outside ERISA.

If a plan is not responding or you need help understanding a claim, the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration has benefits advisors at 1-866-444-3272 and askebsa.dol.gov.

If You Would Rather Have It Done for You

Calling every employer from a long career, plus the union and the retirement office, takes time. Done yourself, this is real work: a certified copy of the death certificate for every request, dozens of letters to insurers, employer plans and military programs, and weeks of waiting, often with no answer at all.

To have it done for you, there is Policy Locate, a paid policy search that finds out whether there was a life insurance policy, from $59, paid once before we start. Not refunded if nothing is found. If a policy is found, Claim Assist files it, 20% of that payout only when the insurer pays. We cannot promise a policy exists.

• Individual insurers. Life insurance companies that sell policies to people directly.
• Employer and union group plans. Coverage through a job, a union, or a federal civilian job.
• Military and federal programs. Coverage from military service. Offered when they served, or you are not sure.
• Price. $59 for one search, $79 for two, $99 for all three. Paid once, before we start. Not refunded if nothing is found.
• Who can ask. Immediate family or the person handling the estate can request a search. You do not need to be a named beneficiary. A certified death certificate is required.
• How long. Timing depends on insurer responses. We cannot promise a policy exists.

For the other places a policy can be, see our complete guide to finding a lost life insurance policy after a death, or our checklist for a deceased parent.