Internal OPM-Taking a Report of Death: Who Died?

Taking a Report of Death: Who Died?
Enter the Claim Number or Social Security Number into ORION and verify with the caller who has
passed away (Pinpointing “who” has died in relation to the account is very important)

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Who has the caller identified as the deceased?
• Death of CSA Annuitant/Retiree
o Death Report in Orion
• Death of CSF Survivor Annuitant who is receiving monthly annuity payments
o Death Report in Orion
• Death of CSA Annuitant’s Spouse
o Do Not Complete a Death Report in Orion
o Mail annuitant the Y Adjustment, Designation forms, and if there is OPT C the FE-6Dep
• Death while in Interim Status (For CSA or CSF Cases)
o Manual Death Report form
• Former Spouse CSA ending in -3 and/or Court Awarded Survivor Benefit on retiree’s CSA
o Do Not Complete a Death Report in Orion
o Death Certificate of former spouse and correspondence sent to Survivor Claims in Boyers
PA to discontinue apportionments and/or stop survivor election (if not court ordered to
continue to estate or next of kin)
o Mail to: OPM, ATTN: Survivor Claims Court Order, PO Box 45, Boyers PA 16017
• Death of Rep payee
o Do Not complete a Death Report in Orion
o Send New Rep Payee forms and advice to mail in Death Certificate of current rep payee
along with new application.
o RIO sends an email to Rep Payee Department ([e-mail]) to notify of the
passing so payments can be suspended.
o Advise that payments will be suspended until a new rep payee is appointed.
• Other Deaths (OPM carries FEGLI for another agency/OWCP/Child added on survivor claim,
Separated former employee, or report will not save in Orion)
o Manual death report form
• Death of Current Employee
o Refer caller back to the employing agency.
o OPM does not send out invite packages to the surviving spouse. The agency will provide
survivor/beneficiary with the death package.

Death Benefit Payment Eligibility
Deceased Annuitant/Employee Benefits May Be Payable To:
• Surviving Spouse
• Eligible Children
• Former Spouse by Court Order.
• Insurable Interest (Annuitants must have elected at retirement)
• Order of Precedence (designated beneficiary, widow, children, parents, court appointed
administrator or executor of the estate, or if none of the above, next of kin according to the laws
of the deceased’s state of domicile. (Court Order may over-ride Order of Precedence)

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Processing the Death Report in ORION
Under the Changes tab go to the Case Death Report and begin verifying/completing required fields
(Please Process from the top of the screen, left to right as to not miss any fields)
• Verify if there is a Survivor Annuity
• Verify if there is a Health Benefit (self only, Self +One, or family)
• Verify the method of payment (direct deposit of paper check)
• Verify if there is any FEGLI Life Insurance
o DO NOT DISCLOSE AMOUNT OF THE Life Insurance POLICY
o DO NOT SEND A VOLI
• If caller needs verification of policy amount, offer to email or fax the Funeral Home Release
Form that can be completed by Funeral Home and faxed back to Survivor Claims.
• If the deceased is also receiving a survivor benefit, by reporting the CSA Death Report it will
automatically report the death on the CSF Case.
• If a Report of Death has been reported and entered on the Death Data File with incorrect
information, it can be deleted and entered again with the correct information, *ONLY* if
corrected on that same business day.
Advise the caller: “I will be asking several questions and I will review some information with you and
then if you have any questions just let me know”
Example of CSA Annuitant Report of Death Screen in Orion:

*Please use proper address formatting when entering the Address of where the death invite packet
is to be sent. If there is an apartment number, please place it on the line above the street address.

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Make sure to check mark the box for Update Death Data
Do not click the X in the top right corner or it will not properly save your death report!!!

For the Death of an Annuitant
The original federal retiree has a Civil Service Annuity (CSA) number.
Advise the caller:
“In 4 to 6 weeks, a death benefit package will be mailed to the address provided. In this package, there
will be all the forms, instructions, and everything necessary to process the death benefits.”
Go to Life Insurance Screen to check FEGLI elections:
If No, Advise the caller: “Unfortunately there is no benefit through the Office of Federal Employees
Group Life Insurance.”
If Yes, Advise the caller: “Our records indicate there is a life insurance policy. The claim forms and
beneficiary information will be included in the death benefit package.” (Do Not provide policy amount)
Go to Payment History:
Determine if a payment needs to be returned or if it is there to stay (use your cutoff schedule to verify).
Also verify if any future payments will be sent, if so caller must be advised that payment will need to be
reclaimed. As a general rule of thumb, any payment made after a date of death will be reclaimed.
If No, Advise the caller: “The payment received prior to the date of passing is there to stay, there will be
compensation for the days he/she survived for the month of (month the annuitant passed) which will be
paid to the beneficiary who will be named in the package”
If Yes, Advise the caller: “The payment received after the date of passing will need to be reclaimed”

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* For direct deposit: “Please leave the deposit in the account and we will send a reclamation notice to
the US Dept of Treasury which will in turn request the funds back from the bank.”
* For paper check: Please mark deceased on the envelope and mail back to Department of Treasury
Bureau of Fiscal Service, Att: Valerie Stiles, 1300 Townsend Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19154-1026. (A return
address is also located on the cover letter in the death invite packet.)
Go to Claim Summary Screen:
Determine if Survivor benefits appear elected.
If No, Advise the caller: “Unfortunately there was not a survivor annuity elected so there will be no
recurring payments, however, there may be a 1-time lump sum payment for any monies due from the
retirement account” (If there are dependent children, benefits are determined after application is
received)
If Yes, Advise the caller: “The deceased elected a survivor annuity which is a monthly recurring
payment, which the Survivor Claims Section will verify after receipt of the application.”
Health benefits:
Determine if the the retiree had self only, self and family, or self +1 health benefits coverage.
Depending on election, Advise the caller:
*If self only: “Our office will notify the health benefit carrier of the passing so you will not need to
contact the annuitant’s health insurance.”
*If self and family or self + 1 with NO survivor annuity: “Since there was not a survivor annuity
elected you will not be eligible to continue in the health benefit enrollment. Your coverage will cease 31
days from the annuitant’s passing. You can contact the carrier and inquire about a conversion to a Non
Group Contract.”
*If self and family or self + 1 WITH survivor annuity: “Our office will take care of notifying the
health benefit carrier and changing the health benefits to a self only policy. Your premium will come out
of your monthly annuity. Please continue to use the health benefit cards you have now until you receive
new ones in the mail from the carrier. Please do not notify the health carrier, OPM will handle
transitioning the coverage for you.”
If no other questions: “We are sorry to hear of your loss, if you have any further questions or need
assistance with the forms please feel free to contact us.”