Financial Readiness
If you carry SGLI, the military can cover your family too. Here is what they get, and what it costs.
Military spouses balance careers and family through every PCS. Photo courtesy of Military OneSource via DVIDS.
FSGLI is Family SGLI. It is term life cover for the spouse and kids of a service member who carries full-time SGLI, the military's own life insurance. Term life means it pays out if the covered person dies while the policy is active. Your spouse can be covered for up to $100,000, and each child is covered for $10,000.
Your kids are covered for free and you cannot turn it down. Spouse coverage costs a small monthly premium that comes out of your pay and rises as your spouse gets older. The one move that matters: make sure your spouse is in DEERS, the military's eligibility database, and check the coverage amount in SOES.
If you have full-time SGLI, FSGLI rides along with it. Your spouse and kids get term life cover. Children are free, and the spouse premium is the only part you pay for.
Spouse coverage cannot exceed your own SGLI. Children are free and automatic.
Spouse premium for the full $100,000
Children are free and you cannot decline it. The spouse premium comes out of your pay.
Source: VA.gov · premiums change, confirm the current VA table
Your spouse can be covered for up to $100,000, but never more than your own SGLI amount. Each dependent child is covered for $10,000. You qualify to insure your spouse whether they are active duty, Guard, Reserve, retired, or a civilian.
Child coverage costs nothing. Spouse coverage costs a monthly premium based on your spouse's age and the amount you pick, and it rises as they get older. If your spouse is in DEERS, the premium comes out of your pay automatically. Premiums change, so check the current VA table before you trust a number.
A civilian spouse is enrolled automatically when you carry full-time SGLI, with the premium taken from your pay. To reduce, turn down, or cancel spouse coverage, sign in to milConnect, choose Manage my SGLI, and update the amount. You cannot change child coverage. It stays in place as long as you have full-time SGLI.
Whether FSGLI turns on by itself depends on who you married and when. A civilian spouse is handled for you. Two service members married more recently have to sign up.
Automatic: Civilian spouse plus your full-time SGLI: enrolled automatically, premium from your pay.
Manual: Two service members married on or after Jan 2, 2013: not automatic, sign up in SOES.
Know the windows
After a divorce or separation, your spouse has 120 days to convert without a health check.
Source: VA.gov
If you separate, divorce, end spouse coverage, end your own SGLI, or die, your spouse has 120 days to convert FSGLI to a permanent individual policy, such as whole life, with no health check. After that event, your spouse owns the policy and pays for it. If you want to dig into your own SGLI first, see our SGLI article.
You do not have to sort this out alone. Your unit personnel office, the S-1 or its equivalent, can help with DEERS and FSGLI questions. Use milConnect SOES to view and change spouse coverage. Installation legal assistance is free for beneficiary and family questions, and Military OneSource offers financial counseling at no cost. The VA pages are linked in Sources below.
How much does FSGLI cost?
Children are free. Spouse coverage runs from about $4 a month for the full $100,000 if your spouse is under 35, rising with age. The premium comes out of your pay.
Are my kids covered automatically?
Yes. Each dependent child is covered for $10,000, free and automatic, and you cannot decline or change it.
What happens if we divorce or I get out?
Your spouse gets a 120-day window to convert to an individual permanent policy without proving good health, and then becomes responsible for it.
