FEGLI Eligible Dependent: Who Qualifies for Option C Coverage

The short answer: A FEGLI eligible dependent is your spouse — including a spouse from a valid common-law marriage — or an unmarried child under age 22. A child aged 22 or over qualifies only if a disability that existed before age 22 leaves them incapable of self-support. OPM sets the definitions. Your HR office decides.

FEGLI Option C insures your family rather than you. Far fewer employees know exactly who those multiples cover, and the gap surfaces at claim time. This is the eligibility detail behind how FEGLI Option C family coverage works.

Key takeaways

• Eligible children must be unmarried and under 22, per OPM.
• Grandchildren count only if they meet the foster-child test (OPM).
• Each multiple pays $5,000 on a spouse and $2,500 per child (OPM).
• Cost is the same whether you have one eligible child or four (OPM).

Who counts as a FEGLI eligible dependent?

Two groups, and nobody else. The first is your spouse. OPM says that includes a spouse from a valid common-law marriage.

The second is an eligible dependent child. OPM counts natural children, adopted children, recognized natural children, stepchildren and foster children. Stepchildren and foster children qualify only if they live with you in a regular parent-child relationship. The child must be unmarried and under age 22. A child aged 22 or over qualifies only when a disability that existed before age 22 leaves them incapable of self-support.

Grandchildren are the distinction people get wrong most often. A grandchild is covered only if they independently meet the foster-child test. Being your grandchild, or being financially dependent on you, does not qualify them.

Which family members are never covered?

Option C does not reach your parents, your siblings, or any other relative, however dependent on you they are. A former spouse is not a spouse, so a divorce ends that half of the coverage. A married child is out, whatever their age. OPM states plainly that stillborn children are not covered.

One structural rule catches people too. You cannot elect different multiples for your spouse and your children. The election is one unit.

What does the coverage actually cost a family?

Each multiple is worth $5,000 on a spouse and $2,500 on each eligible child. You may elect one through five. Premiums are set by your age band, not your dependents’ ages.

A worked example. An employee aged 57 elects three multiples. The OPM rate for the age 55–59 band is $1.48 biweekly per multiple. Three multiples cost $4.44 biweekly, roughly $115 a year, for $15,000 on a spouse and $7,500 on each child.

Here is the part worth knowing. That $4.44 is the same whether the employee has one eligible child or four. The cost does not scale with family size, and it does not fall when children age out.

What happens when a child turns 22?

Coverage on that child simply ends. Nothing arrives in the mail, and your premium does not change, because the premium never depended on how many children you had. An employee whose only child turns 22 keeps paying the identical amount for spouse-only coverage until they act.

That milestone is the natural moment to re-check the election. Employees reviewing Option C near retirement usually look at what FEGLI Option B costs in retirement too. Both elections come off the same paperwork.

Frequently asked questions

Does my grandchild count as a FEGLI eligible dependent? Only if the grandchild meets the foster-child requirements. Financial support alone is not enough.

Who decides whether a dependent qualifies? Your agency’s human resources office determines eligibility, not OPM and not the insurer.

Does a disabled adult child stay covered automatically? No. The disability must have existed before age 22. Confirm the determination with HR before you rely on it.

Where can federal employees learn more?

Knowing who is on your FEGLI eligible dependent list turns Option C into coverage you can count on. Fed Pilot runs free workshops covering FEGLI, FEHB and the rest of the retirement picture.

Register for a free Fed Pilot workshop to review your FEGLI elections with retirement-focused educators.