Often the spouse of a family of a deceased postmaster is at a loss about what to do first. The following list should e helpful. All postmasters should save this list or give it to their spouses to keep.
1. Notify postmasterÕs
immediate
supervisor (the Manager, Post Office Operations).
2. Notify personnel section at the
District.
3. Contact the following:
a. Credit unions
b. Veterans Administration,
if veteran
c. Local bank
d. Social Security
Administration
e. Insurance companies for
policies on life, hospitalization, house, and auto
f. Internal Revenue and
state franchise board
g. Check for safety
deposit
h.
Change deceasedÕs name on all-important
papers to surviving partyÕs name
4. Notify the Manager Post Office
Operations as to time and place of service of deceased.
5. Have mortuary obtain five copies
of
death certificate (more if needed).
6. Turn in post office keys
7. Papers to complete (available
from the
District personnel section or at post office).
a. SF 2800 Ð Application for
death benefit
b. SF 1153 Ð Claim of
designated
beneficiary for unpaid compensation
c. SF 1155 Ð Claim for unpaid
compensation, no designated beneficiary
d. FE 6 Ð claim for benefits,
Federal
Employees Group Life Insurance
e. Check with the District
personnel section for exact amount of annuity for spouse and
minor children
8. If previous marriage, have
divorce
papers
9. If present marriage, have
marriage
license
10. A will is a vital necessity. An executor must be named if there is no will. An expensive
court action
may be necessary.
(Step-by-Step Procedures)
Have
you ever wondered how much
trouble your survivor will encounter in collecting benefits due after
your
death? How to collect life
insurance benefits if you are insured under the Federal Employees Group
Life
Insurance Act?
An eligible survivor
can collect benefits with little or no difficulty.
The exact type of benefit, and the amount, will depend on
each particular case, but the way to obtain them is simple.
The
eligible survivor merely
follows this simple procedure:
1. Return any uncashed annuity
checks to
the return address shown on the envelope in which the check was
delivered. If annuity payments have been
sent
directly to the bank or other financial institution, promptly notify
that
institution of the annuitantÕs date of death.
Ask that any payments received after the date of death be
returned to the Treasure Department.
2. Notify the Office of Personnel
Management,
Employee Service and Records Center, Boyers, Pennsylvania, 16017, of
the death
of the annuitant so they can send an application for survivor benefits. The use of this address will expedite
your claim. A sample letter will
follow.
3. Obtain a certified copy of the
annuitantÕs death certificate to enclose with the application
that the Office
of Personnel management will send.
OPM prefers that the applicant wait for the official
application, and
that it be completed and returned promptly after receipt.
While awaiting return of the
application, OPM will have completed certain preliminary actions so
that the
application can be expedited.
Returning uncashed checks to the Treasury Department is necessary because government checks made payable to a deceased person cannot be legally cashed by anyone else, even the executor or the administrator of an estate. The Employee Service and Records Center cannot authorize a survivor benefit until the Treasury Department informs them that there are no outstanding checks payable to the deceased annuitant. However, any accrued annuity that has not been paid to the annuitant will be included in the benefit to the eligible survivor.
Notifying
the
Employee Service and Records Center immediately after the death of an
annuitant
enables that office to start helping the person whom is entitled to
survivor
benefits.
The letter of notification should include the full name of the deceased annuitant, exact date if birth, exact date of death, CSA number, and the address and relationship of the person who desires to obtain survivor benefits. As soon as the Employee Service and Records Center receives this letter of notification, it will stop payments and send an application to the person who is found entitled to apply for benefits.
LIFE
INSURANCE BENEFITS
The Employee Service and Records Center will also provide the eligible survivor with an application for benefits under the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program if the deceased annuitant was covered by the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Act.
There is no need for
the eligible survivor to write the New York office of the Federal
Employees
Group Life Insurance Fund. In
fact, that office cannot settle a claim until a certification of the
deceased
annuitantÕs insurance status is received from the Employee
Service and Records
Center.
An application for survivor benefits must be completed before the Employee Service and Records Center can authorize payment of all possible benefits to the eligible survivor. Benefits could include adjustment of health insurance coverage from Òself and familyÓ to Òself-onlyÓ if the survivor has been covered under the Health Benefits program, and survivor annuity if the deceased person provided for survivor coverage.
A copy of the annuitantÕs death certificate provides the agency with proof of the exact date of death. The exact date is important.
Note: An additional copy of the
death
certificate should be attached to the application for benefits under
the
Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Act if the deceased was covered
by this
Life Insurance Program.
If other information
is needed, OPM will specifically ask for it. Other
evidence that might be requested may include copies of
marriage certificates, birth certificates, divorce decrees, etc.