§8705 Death claims; order of precedence; escheat

Summary

When a federal employee with group life or accidental death insurance dies, the insurance money must be paid to survivors in a set order. First it goes to any beneficiary the employee named in a signed, witnessed form that was filed before death at the employing agency (or at the Office of Personnel Management if the person was receiving an annuity). If there is no valid named beneficiary, it goes to the widow or widower, then to the children and their descendants, then to the parents or surviving parent, then to the executor or administrator of the estate, and finally to other next of kin under the law of the employee’s home. If nobody entitled files a claim within 1 year, the agency can pay the next person in line as if the earlier person had died, and that payment prevents later claims. If no claim and no notice of a claim within 2 years, OPM may pay whoever it thinks is fairly entitled, which also bars others. If no payment and no pending claim after 4 years, the money goes into the Employees’ Life Insurance Fund. Court orders from divorce, annulment, or legal separation can direct who is paid if the order or settlement is received by the employing agency (or OPM for separated employees) before death. Those orders can only be changed by the person’s written consent or by changing the court order, and OPM will issue rules to apply these rules.