Family SGLI Benefits: Life Insurance for Military Spouses and Children

Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (FSGLI) is the family add-on to Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI). It is term life insurance on your spouse and children, and the benefit is paid to you, the service member. Congress defines who counts as an "insurable dependent" in 38 U.S.C. 1965(10): your spouse, your child, and a stillborn child.

Your spouse or child may be eligible if at least 1 of these is true:

• you are on active duty and covered by full-time SGLI, or
• you are in the National Guard or Ready Reserve and covered by full-time SGLI.

Full-time SGLI is the key. The SGLI and VGLI handbook says members on active duty for training or inactive duty for training, who hold only part-time SGLI, are not eligible for FSGLI. If you are unsure which you have, the SGLI coverage guide explains the drill-period rule.

Your spouse's own status does not matter. VA says a spouse may qualify "no matter if your own status is active duty, Reserve, Guard, retired, or civilian." So military-to-military couples can each hold FSGLI on the other, subject to the enrollment rule below.

Spouse coverage is available in $10,000 steps up to $100,000. 2 limits apply. First, it can never exceed your own SGLI amount. Second, you must keep your SGLI in force; if you decline SGLI, your spouse's FSGLI ends with it.

Who is enrolled automatically depends on whether your spouse is also in uniform:

• Civilian spouse. Enrolled automatically for $100,000, or your SGLI amount if that is lower, when you become eligible or when you marry during service.
• Military spouse, married before January 2, 2013. Enrolled automatically on the same terms.
• Military spouse, married on or after January 2, 2013. Not automatic. You must enroll them in the SGLI Online Enrollment System (SOES), and your spouse answers health questions.

Watch out: There is no rule that reduces spouse coverage to $10,000 at age 35 or any other age. Your spouse's coverage amount stays where you set it. What changes with age is the premium, which steps up as your spouse enters each new age band.

Every dependent child is covered for $10,000, and VA says "dependent children get free coverage." There is nothing to elect and nothing deducted. The handbook counts unmarried natural, adopted and stepchildren, and the statute includes a stillborn child.

Coverage lasts until the child turns 18. Under 38 U.S.C. 101(4)(A), the definition FSGLI uses, it can continue past 18 in 2 cases:

• the child is a full-time student. VA's page says "between 18 and 22 years old," and the statute says "not after attaining the age of twenty-three years," so coverage can run through age 22, or
• the child became permanently and totally disabled before turning 18 and cannot support themselves. VA says it may extend coverage "in some cases indefinitely."

You pay the spouse premium, not your spouse. VA deducts it from your pay as long as your spouse is registered in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). Rates fell 11% to 22% on July 1, 2025; the table shows the current amounts.

Source: https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/fsgli/, monthly premiums effective July 1, 2025.

Every amount between is priced in proportion: $70,000 for a spouse under 35 is $2.80 a month, and $80,000 at 50 to 54 is $10.80. That works out to 4 cents per $1,000 under age 35. The premium moves to the next row when your spouse reaches the next age bracket; the coverage amount does not change.

You manage spouse coverage the same way you manage your own SGLI:

1. Sign in to milConnect with your Common Access Card (CAC) or DS Logon and select "Manage my SGLI" to open SOES.
2. Choose the spouse coverage amount in $10,000 steps up to $100,000 (and no more than your SGLI), reduce it, or decline it.
3. If you are enrolling a military spouse married on or after January 2, 2013, or restoring coverage you once declined, your spouse answers the health questions in SOES.
4. Certify the change. VA notifies your spouse if you reduce coverage and they are your named beneficiary.

If SOES is not available to you, the paper form is SGLV 8286A, Spouse Coverage Election and Certificate (PDF). The form itself says SOES is the official system of record and paper is "only used in special circumstances" defined by your branch. Do not use SGLV 8286; that is the member's own SGLI election.

Watch out: Declining spouse coverage is easy to undo on paper but not in practice. The handbook says proof of good health is required when coverage was previously declined and you later ask to enroll. A spouse who develops a health condition in between may not get back in.

FSGLI is tied to your SGLI, and your SGLI is tied to your service. The handbook says family coverage "will terminate 120 days after the member separates from service." Spouse coverage also ends when the marriage ends, when you decline SGLI, and when you die.

Your spouse then has 120 days to convert. VA's page lists the triggers: your separation, your divorce, your written election to end spouse coverage, your written election to end your own SGLI, or your death. Within 120 days of any of them, your spouse can convert FSGLI "to a permanent, individual insurance policy (such as whole life)" with one of the companies on VA's participating-companies list (PDF).

2 things the conversion is not. It is not term insurance; the replacement must be a permanent policy. And it is not VGLI. The handbook is explicit that "a spouse may not convert the policy to a VGLI policy." VGLI is for your own coverage, and the VGLI conversion guide covers that separate 1-year-and-120-day clock.

VA's conversion right is written for spouse coverage. Child coverage ends on the same 120-day clock, and VA's page lists no conversion for it.

If a covered spouse or child dies, you are the beneficiary, and you file:

1. SGLV 8700, Report of Death of Family Member, to tell the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (OSGLI) about the death.
2. SGLV 8283A, Claim for Family Coverage Death Benefits, to request payment. The handbook gives the mailing address as OSGLI, PO Box 70173, Philadelphia, PA 19176-0173.

If your spouse is terminally ill, SGLV 8284A, Claim for Accelerated Benefits, requests part of the coverage in advance. VA's FSGLI page names the form but not the percentage or prognosis rule for spouses; check the form's instructions or call OSGLI at 1-800-419-1473, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

FSGLI is cheap while your spouse is young and it needs no medical exam at automatic enrollment. Its limits are the reasons to look further:

• $100,000 maximum. For a family that depends on 2 incomes, that may cover a year or 2 of expenses, not a mortgage.
• Rising premiums. $4.00 a month becomes $40.00 at 60. A level-premium private term policy bought while your spouse is healthy holds its price for the term.
• It ends with your service. 120 days after separation, the only continuation is a permanent policy through the conversion list, usually at a much higher premium than term.
• Your own SGLI caps it. Reducing your SGLI to save money also lowers the most your spouse can carry.

Many families keep FSGLI for what it is, low-cost coverage during service, and add private term on top. The supplemental coverage options guide explains what to check in a private policy, and the VA life insurance guide compares every VA program. If a covered member dies, the survivor benefits guide covers what VA pays the family beyond SGLI.

States do not run their own family life insurance, but several give surviving spouses of service members property-tax relief, tuition waivers or a state death gratuity, and some state veterans departments help with insurance claims. Select your state to see what applies.

How much does FSGLI cost?

It depends on your spouse's age. For $100,000 of coverage the monthly premium is $4.00 under age 35, $4.70 at 35-39, $6.20 at 40-44, $8.50 at 45-49, $13.50 at 50-54, $23.00 at 55-59 and $40.00 at 60 and over. It comes out of the member's pay. Child coverage is free.

Is my spouse automatically enrolled?

A civilian spouse is enrolled automatically for $100,000 or the member's SGLI amount, whichever is less. A spouse who is also a service member is enrolled automatically only if you married before January 2, 2013; otherwise the member must enroll them in SOES.

Are my children covered?

Yes. Each dependent child is covered for $10,000 at no cost until age 18. VA may extend coverage for a full-time student between 18 and 22, and, in some cases indefinitely, for a child who became permanently and totally disabled before 18.

What happens to FSGLI when I leave the military?

Coverage ends 120 days after you separate. Within those 120 days your spouse can convert to a permanent individual policy, such as whole life, with one of the participating companies. FSGLI cannot be converted to VGLI.

Can FSGLI be more than my own SGLI?

No. Spouse coverage cannot exceed the member's SGLI amount, and the member must keep SGLI in force. If you reduce or decline your own SGLI, your spouse's coverage is capped or ends with it.