Your TSP and your FEGLI life insurance go to whoever is named on each program's beneficiary record, no matter what your will, trust, or deed says. If no one is named, federal law sets the order. A few minutes now can make sure your money goes exactly where you want it to, and makes things much easier for the people you love.
Two programs, two separate records. Naming someone for your TSP does not name them for FEGLI, and the reverse is true too. Each one is updated on its own.
Guide 1
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
The TSP only honors the beneficiaries on file with the TSP when you pass. A will or any other document cannot change it.
Naming or updating your TSP beneficiaries
The TSP now handles beneficiary designations through your online account, so there is usually no paper form to mail.
- Log in to My Account at tsp.gov. If you don't use online access, call the ThriftLine at 1-877-968-3778.
- Go to the beneficiary section and add each person, or a trust, your estate, or a charity. You can name up to 20.
- Choose primary or contingent for each one. Primary beneficiaries inherit first. Contingent beneficiaries inherit only if every primary beneficiary has passed away before you.
- Enter a percentage for each beneficiary so the shares add up to 100%.
- Save it, then print or screenshot the confirmation and keep it with your estate papers.
Good to know
- You can name primary and contingent beneficiaries, but not a third level after that.
- Marriage, divorce, or remarriage does not update your record automatically. An ex-spouse who is still named will still receive the money.
- Once you name someone, you can't go back to the default order. You can only name new beneficiaries.
- A yearly look is a good habit, and after any big life change.
If no one is named, the TSP pays in this order set by federal law: your spouse, then your children, then your parents, then your estate's executor, then your next of kin under state law.
For your family: claiming a TSP account
Anyone can report a death to the TSP. Most claims take 30 to 45 days to process once the TSP has the death certificate and has confirmed the beneficiaries.
- Gather information about the person who passed: full legal name, date of birth, date of death, mailing address, last four digits of their Social Security number, and marital status (with the spouse's name if married).
- Get a certified death certificate. The TSP needs a clear copy showing an official seal or stamp, the date of death, the cause and manner of death, and the registrar's signature and date.
- Report the death. The easiest way is online at the TSP Life Events Hub, where you can upload documents and track the claim. You can also call the ThriftLine at 1-877-968-3778, or mail or fax a letter with the death certificate to: ThriftLine Service Center, c/o Broadridge Processing, PO Box 1600, Newark, NJ 07101-1600 (fax 1-276-926-8948).
- Watch the mail. Each beneficiary receives a Confirmation of Beneficiary Asset Transfer notice once the claim is processed.
What happens next depends on who you are
| Spouse beneficiary | Non-spouse beneficiary |
|---|
| Account | A Beneficiary Participant Account in your name, invested as it was | A temporary account |
| Stay in the TSP? | Yes | No |
| Deadline | None | 90 days to choose a payout |
| Choices | Keep it in the TSP, roll it to an IRA, or take withdrawals later | Paid to you, or rolled into an inherited IRA |
| If nothing is chosen | It stays invested | The TSP mails a check on day 90 |
| Taxes | Not taxed until withdrawn | Taxed when paid out; an inherited IRA rollover can spread it over time |
A share under $200 is paid out directly, even to a spouse. Inherited IRA rules can be tricky, so a conversation with a tax advisor or financial professional during that 90-day window is often worthwhile.
TSP contacts & resources
Guide 2
Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI)
FEGLI pays whoever is named on your beneficiary form, Standard Form 2823, no matter what your will or trust says. The default order works for many families. A form makes sense when you'd like someone outside that order to receive the money, like a friend, a trust, or a charity, or when you'd like different shares.
Naming your FEGLI beneficiaries
FEGLI still uses a paper form: Standard Form 2823.
- Fill out SF 2823 with each beneficiary's full name, relationship, address, and share.
- Sign it in front of two witnesses. Each witness signs and writes their address. A witness can't be anyone named on the form.
- Send it to the right office. Still working: your agency's Human Resources office. Retired: OPM Retirement Operations Center, P.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045, with your retirement claim number (CSA) or Social Security number.
- Keep a copy, and note the date you sent it.
Good to know
- The office has to receive the form while you are living. A form that arrives after a death doesn't count.
- Only you can sign it. If you assigned your insurance to someone else, only that person can name beneficiaries.
- Retirees: OPM keeps older forms on paper in archives, so getting a copy can take a while. A new, properly signed form replaces whatever is on file.
- Naming a trust uses special wording from OPM. We're happy to help with it.
- Marriage, divorce, or a beneficiary's move are all good reasons to file a new form.
If no one is named, FEGLI pays in this order set by federal law: your spouse, then your children (and grandchildren in place of a child who has passed), then your parents, then your estate's executor, then your next of kin under state law.
For your family: filing a FEGLI claim
The claim form is the FE-6, Claim for Death Benefits. It's a paper form and can't be filed online.
Step 1: Report the death
| If the person was | Report the death to | How |
|---|
| Still working for the government | Their agency's Human Resources office | Have their full name, Social Security number, and date of death |
| Retired (an annuitant) | OPM Retirement Operations | Online at opm.gov/ReportDeath, by phone at 1-888-767-6738, or by mail to P.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045 |
| Receiving a pension from another system (such as the military) | That retirement system | It notifies OPM |
For a retiree, this one report also stops the monthly annuity payments. OPM then sends the forms for any survivor annuity and handles health benefits.
- Get a certified death certificate.
- Fill out Form FE-6. The agency or OPM mails it to everyone who appears eligible, or you can download it and fill it out ahead of time.
- Send the FE-6 with the certified death certificate. For a retiree: Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI), P.O. Box 6080, Scranton, PA 18505-6080 (overnight: OFEGLI, 10 Ed Preate Drive, Moosic, PA 18507). For an employee: to the agency's Human Resources office.
- Check on it after 30 days. Call OFEGLI at 1-800-633-4542 (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday to Friday) with the insured person's name, Social Security number, and date of death.
If a covered family member passes (a spouse or child under Option C), the form is the
FE-6DEP instead. Retirees send it to OPM Retirement Operations Center, Attn: FE-6 DEP, Boyers, PA 16017. Employees give it to their agency's HR office.
FEGLI contacts & resources
A Note from Mia
"So often, I meet families who did everything right with their will or trust, and then learn the TSP or FEGLI was still pointing somewhere else. Checking these two records is one of the simplest, kindest things you can do for the people you love."
— Mia Smith, MBA, FPWM, FRC, NSSA® · Federal Retirement Consultant
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Prepared by Octus Financial for general education, from information published by the Thrift Savings Plan (tsp.gov) and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (opm.gov), current as of October 2026. This is not tax or legal advice. Rules and contact details can change, so please confirm with the TSP or OPM before acting.
