SGLI, VGLI and FEGLI After a Death: How Families Check

If the person who died served in the military or worked for the federal government, there may be life insurance that leaves little or no paperwork at home. These programs are run separately, each with its own office and claim form. This guide explains who runs each one and how a family checks.

First, Confirm Their Service

If you are not sure whether someone served, their discharge paper (the DD-214) or other service records will tell you. The National Archives lets next of kin of a deceased veteran request these records: a surviving spouse who has not remarried, a parent, a child, or a sibling. For most records there is no charge; records for people who left the service more than 62 years ago carry an archival fee.

SGLI: Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance

SGLI is low-cost term life insurance for service members, run by the Department of Veterans Affairs with the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (OSGLI) and Prudential handling the program and its claims. It covers active-duty members of every branch, many members of the Reserve and National Guard, and some others, such as ROTC members and service academy cadets, for up to $500,000.

Coverage does not stop the day someone leaves. The VA says SGLI continues free for 120 days after separation, and up to 2 years for some people with a service-connected disability.

How the claim is filed: the beneficiary completes the Claim for Death Benefits (form SGLV 8283). When a service member dies, the VA directs families to their branch of service's Casualty Assistance office for help submitting it to OSGLI.

VGLI: Veterans' Group Life Insurance

VGLI lets people keep life insurance after they leave the military. Veterans have to apply within 1 year and 120 days of leaving, and can hold between $10,000 and $500,000 of coverage, which lasts for life as long as the premiums are paid. OSGLI, working with Prudential, runs the program.

How the claim is filed: the beneficiary uses the same Claim for Death Benefits (SGLV 8283). The VA lists 1-800-419-1473 for the VGLI program and for SGLI and FSGLI claims.

A related program, Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (FSGLI), covers the spouse and dependent children of service members who have full-time SGLI.

The VA's Own Life Insurance Policies

The VA also runs life insurance directly for some veterans with service-connected disabilities:

• VALife offers up to $40,000 of whole life coverage to veterans with a service-connected disability rating, even 0 percent. Full coverage starts 2 years after the veteran applies; if they die before then, the beneficiaries receive the premiums paid plus interest.
• Service-Disabled Veterans Life Insurance (S-DVI) stopped taking new applications after December 31, 2022, but veterans who already had it could keep it.
• Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) protects the mortgage on a home adapted for a veteran with a severe service-connected disability. It pays the lender directly, not a beneficiary, up to $200,000.

For VALife, S-DVI and VMLI, the VA lists 1-800-669-8477. Its death claim page lists the right form for each program and where to send it.

FEGLI: Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance

FEGLI is the federal government's group life insurance program. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says it covers more than 4 million federal employees and retirees, as well as many of their family members. It is term insurance, so it does not build cash value. Retirees who meet the program's rules can keep Basic coverage; under the default choice it reduces over time and costs nothing once the reductions begin.

Who to tell: OPM 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.

How the claim is filed: claims are paid by the Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI), a private office under contract with the government. The beneficiary completes Form FE-6, Claim for Death Benefits, which cannot be submitted online; it is printed and mailed with a certified copy of the death certificate. OFEGLI's phone line is 1-800-633-4542, and OPM's death claims page has the mailing address.

FEGLI is coverage through a job, so it sits alongside any other employer coverage. Our guide to life insurance through work after a death covers former employers, retirees and unions.

If You Would Rather Have It Done for You

Between service records, the VA's offices and a federal employer, this can take a while, and it is only one of the places a policy can be. 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.

In Policy Locate, a federal civilian job counts as an employer plan, and the military search covers military service.

For every other place to look, see our complete guide to finding a lost life insurance policy after a death.