Military pay, including active duty pay and allowances and retired pay, stops upon a service member’s death. The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) is a program through which the Department of Defense provides monthly, cost-of-living-adjusted income to eligible survivors of service members who die on Active Duty in the line of duty, including Reserve Airmen and National Guard Airmen who die on Federal Active Duty in the line of duty and Retired Service members who choose to continue participating in the program after they retire.

Service members who retire due to a service-connected disability incurred while on active duty, whether Regular or Reserve, may participate in SBP.

Reserve and National Guard Airmen may participate in the Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RCSBP) when they complete 20 years of qualifying service for non-regular retirement.

The following table illustrates which program applies to whom, depending on one's duty status and retirement eligibility:

SBP premiums are deducted from retired pay and since April of 2018, DFAS will deduct SBP premiums from Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) when retired pay is not sufficient to cover the full amount of the premiums. This deduction is due to a change in the law which requires DFAS to deduct SBP premiums from CRSC. Click here for more information.

Survivors of Air Force Reserve Airmen who have completed 20 years of service may be eligible to receive benefits under RCSBP if they enrolled in the program when they received their 20-year Letter.

Air Force Reserve Airmen who declined to participate in RCSBP when they received their 20-year Letter (by electing Option A) are automatically enrolled in regular SBP when they begin receiving retired pay at age 60 (or earlier if they served in contingency operations), unless they decline to participate with their spouses' written concurrence. Air Force Reserve Airmen who elected to participate in RCSBP when they received their 20-year Letter do not make an SBP election prior to non-regular retirement. Their RCSBP election turns into their SBP election at non-regular retirement.

Benefits under both SBP and RCSBP are essentially the same. At time of enrollment, service members select how much of their retired pay they wish to cover when they select their "Base Amount". A Base Amount can be any amount between $300 and full retired pay. Maximum benefits are 55% of the service member’s Base Amount (referred to as an "annuity"). Any election that provides less than maximum benefits for the service member’s spouse requires the spouse's written concurrence. Base Amounts increase at the same time and at the same rate as cost-of-living adjustments to retired pay.

Eligibility criteria for survivors are the same. Premiums are similar, except that RCSBP elections include an additional cost for the coverage that is in force during the Gray Area.

This fact sheet discusses RCSBP. Air Force Reserve Airmen approaching age 60 and commencement of retired pay who did not enroll in RCSBP when they received their 20-year Letter (elected Option A) may participate in SBP. See the "REGULAR AIR FORCE: RETIRED" fact sheet in this series for more information about SBP.

RCSBP Options:

Upon receipt of their Notice of Eligibility (NOE) to receive non-regular retired pay at age 60 (or earlier if they served on qualifying contingency operations), Air Force Reserve Airmen are required to choose whether they wish to participate in the Reserve Component - Survivor Benefit Plan (RCSBP). They

Eligibility of Survivors:

Under SBP/RCSBP, there are six categories of survivors from which an Air Force Reserve Airmen may choose as beneficiaries:

1. Spouse

2. Child(ren) Only

3. Spouse-and-Child(ren)

4. Former Spouse

5. Former Spouse-and-Child(ren)

6. Insurable Interest

Spouse: A spouse named as beneficiary must be married to the service member on their date of NOE. The spouse is immediately eligible to receive benefits, regardless of how long they have been married. A service member who is unmarried on their date of NOE may enroll in RCSBP/SBP later if they marry. The election must be made within one year of the date of the first marriage following NOE, and the spouse becomes eligible to receive benefits after one year of marriage (or immediately if the spouse is the parent of a child born of that marriage or remarriage to a former spouse who was the covered spouse at NOE). If no action taken within one year of marriage, RCSBP/SBP is closed for that spouse and any future spouse.

A Spouse RCSBP/SBP election applies not only to the spouse a service member has at time of enrollment but also to any future spouse. If a participating Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member loses their spouse through death or divorce, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member still has Spouse RCSBP/SBP coverage, but it goes into a "suspended" status. If the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member remarries, the Spouse RCSBP/SBP election reactivates, and the new spouse automatically becomes an eligible beneficiary after one year of marriage or upon the birth of a child of that marriage, if sooner. During that first year, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member has three choices: (1) Allow the previous RCSBP/SBP election to resume (which happens automatically if the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member does nothing); (2) Terminate Spouse RCSBP/SBP participation (which forever prohibits spouse participation in the future and require spouse concurrence); or (3) Increase coverage if the previous election was for less than maximum benefits. Under the third option, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member would be required to pay premiums for the increased coverage retroactively to the date of initial enrollment for all periods of previous Spouse RCSBP/SBP coverage, less any premiums already paid.

A surviving spouse can receive RCSBP/SBP benefits for life, but remarriage before age 55 suspends eligibility to receive benefits. If such marriage later ends by death or divorce, eligibility is restored.

Integration with Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC): Surviving spouses and minor children of surviving spouses and minor children of service members and Retired Service members whose deaths are determined to be service-connected by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are entitled to tax-free compensation from the VA. This benefit is called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). The Spouse SBP annuity is no longer impacted by DIC. A spouse eligible for both will receive both in full.

Spouse-and-Child(ren): The spouse is the primary beneficiary. Benefits pass on to eligible children only if the surviving spouse dies or remarries before age 55.

Child(ren) Only: Eligible children are the beneficiaries. Benefits are divided equally among all eligible children. If the RCSBP/SBP annuity is divided among multiple children, as each child ages beyond the eligibility limit or marry, whichever comes first, the annuity is reapportioned among the remaining eligible children. Ultimately, one child ends up receiving the entire annuity, which then terminates when that child reaches the age eligibility limit or marries, whichever comes first. Eligible children include natural children, adopted children, stepchildren, and foster children who lived with the service member in a parent-child relationship. Children may receive RCSBP/SBP benefits until age 18, or age 22 if enrolled full-time in high school, college, vocational or technical school, or another recognized educational institution as long as they remain unmarried. An exception is that if a child reaches age 22 while in school, and their birthday is before July 1 or after August 31 of a calendar year, eligibility continues until the earlier of the child's cessation of full-time studies or the 1st day of July following that birthday. A child who becomes incapable of self-support due to a physical or mental disability before age 18, or before age 22 while a full-time student, may receive benefits for life, as long as they remain unmarried. Prior to electing RCSBP/SBP coverage for an incapacitated child, the retired or retiring service member should research the effect of the RCSBP/SBP income on other benefits to which the incapacitated child may be eligible under state or local welfare or support programs. An irrevocable election to pay the RCSBP/SBP annuity for an incapacitated child to a special needs trust set up for the benefit of the child may be made at any time.

Former Spouse: A service member may name a former spouse as beneficiary at time of NOE, which can be done either voluntarily or in compliance with a court order. After NOE, a former spouse can be named as beneficiary only if the former spouse had been an eligible spouse beneficiary. To do so, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member must change the Spouse RCSBP/SBP election to a Former Spouse RCSBP/SBP election within one year of the date of divorce using the DD Form 2656-6, SBP Election Change Certificate and DD Form 2656-1, SBP Election Statement for former Spouse Coverage, with a copy of the divorce decree and any other court order awarding RCSBP/SBP. To ensure that a court-ordered election is carried out, a former spouse has a one-year period from the date of the first court order awarding SBP to request that a Former Spouse SBP election be deemed by submitting DD Form 2656-10, SBP/RCSBP Request for Deemed Election.

If the former spouse remarries before age 55, the former spouse becomes ineligible to receive benefits, but the Former Spouse RCSBP/SBP election remains in force and reactivates if the former spouse's marriage ends by death or divorce. A Former Spouse RCSBP/SBP election can be changed to a Spouse RCSBP/SBP election if the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member remarries at any time after the remarriage. If the former Spouse election was made voluntarily, the former  spouse's concurrence is not required, but if the Former Spouse RCSBP/SBP election was made pursuant to a court order, a subsequent court order relieving the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member of the obligation would be necessary to make the change.

If a former spouse beneficiary dies, a remarried Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member may change their election to Spouse RCSBP/SBP coverage for a subsequent spouse within one year of the date of the former spouse's death. If the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member is unmarried at the time of the former spouse's death and later remarries, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member may change their RCSBP/SBP election to Spouse coverage, naming the subsequent spouse as beneficiary, within one year of the date of remarriage. If the former spouse died before 25 November 2015, and the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member had remarried prior to that date, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member had until 24 November 2016 to elect coverage for the subsequent spouse.

Former Spouse-and-Child(ren): This is identical to the Spouse and Children RCSBP/SBP category in costs and benefits, except that only the service member’s or Retired Service member’s children of the marriage to the former spouse may be named as beneficiaries. This is true even if the child had been a beneficiary under a previous Child(ren) Only or Spouse and Child(ren) RCSBP/SBP election if the children were not adopted by the service member or retired service member.

Insurable Interest: A service member who is unmarried and has no children at time of NOE can elect coverage for a person who has an insurable financial interest in the service member’s continuing life. An insurable interest is presumed for all family members related more closely than a cousin (parents, stepparents, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, half-brothers and half-sisters, and non-dependent children or stepchildren). Documentation of a financial interest is required for all other beneficiaries. This option may be cancelled at any time or changed to cover a spouse or child later within one year of acquiring them. Upon the death of an insurable  interest beneficiary, the Retired Service member or Gray Area Service member may elect a new insurable interest beneficiary within 180 days of the previous beneficiary's death. If a new insurable interest beneficiary is elected, premiums will be paid for the entire 180-day period and the difference of additional premiums all the way back to initial election. Insurable interest beneficiaries receive benefits for life. See the paragraph in the next section about insurable interest premiums for more information about insurable interest annuities.

SBP Premiums:

Spouse and Former Spouse SBP Premiums: SBP premiums for Spouse and Former Spouse coverage are the same: 6.5% of the designated Base Amount.

Service members who entered active duty before 1 March 1990, Reserve Component Service members whose retirement is non-regular, and disability Retired Service members regardless of when they entered service, will have their premiums calculated under an alternate, two-part formula if it results in a lower premium.

RCSBP Premiums for Spouse and Former Spouse Coverage: RCSBP premiums are different for each of the RCSBP options. (Note: There is no RCSBP premium for Option A, since the member is declining coverage, essentially choosing to defer making an election until becoming eligible for SBP when retired pay begins at age 60.) Premiums for Options B and C are calculated using actuarial factors based upon both the member's and the member's spouse's ages at the time the RCSBP election is made. The following table illustrates RCSBP premiums for the most typical age combinations, expressed as an additional percentage of their elected Base Amounts, over and above the 6.5% or two-part formula rate they would pay for basic SBP:

For example, a 42-year-old Air Force Reserve Airmen whose spouse is 2 years younger than them and elects an Immediate Annuity - Option C, would pay (beginning at age 60, when retired pay starts) 6.5% of their elected base amount for basic SBP, plus an additional 2.46% for the RCSBP coverage that was in force during the "Gray Area" between ages 42 and 60, for a total of 8.96% of his elected base amount.

Spouse-and-Child(ren) Premiums: The premiums for Spouse and Child(ren) RCSBP coverage (as well as Former Spouse and Child(ren) RCSBP coverage) are the same as "Spouse Only" coverage. There is no cost to add a child (or children) to an RCSBP Spouse election. Note that this is a recent change and that some literature is still in the public domain stating that there is an additional cost to add children. An accurate premium calculation can be obtained at the DoD Office of the Actuary website or on the MyAirForceBenefits Retirement Calculator.

Child(ren) Only: The premiums for RCBSP/SBP child(ren) only coverage are very modest and are based upon actuarial factors determined by a combination of the Service member’s age and the age of the Service member’s youngest child on their birth dates nearest to the date of enrollment. It doesn't matter how many children there are since the one 55% benefit is divided equally among all eligible children. An accurate premium calculation can be obtained at the DoD Office of the Actuary website and the MyAirForceBenefits Retirement calculator, but the following table illustrates some examples for selected age combinations:

Insurable Interest: Premiums for this category of coverage are calculated much differently than they are for all other categories. First, only one's full retired pay can be selected as the base amount. For example, a 40-year-old retiring member with retired pay of $1,000 per month who wants to name their 24-year-old sister as their insurable interest beneficiary, the RCSBP premium cost is 3.74% of $1000, equaling $37.40. This will be in addition to the SBP cost which is a minimum of 10% of the base amount, plus an additional 5% for each full five years that the beneficiary is younger than the member. In this case 10% +15% which equals 25% of $1000. The SBP and the RCSBP cost together equals ($250 + $37.40) $287.40 monthly.

Monthly RCSBP/SBP annuities for insurable interest beneficiaries are also less than those for all other categories. To calculate the annuity, first subtract the monthly premium from the base amount to determine an "Adjusted Base Amount". The monthly annuity is then 55% of the Adjusted Base Amount. In the example above, the monthly annuity would be $391.93 ($1,000 Base Amount - $287.40 Premium = $712.60 Adjusted Base Amount x 55% = $391.93)

Additional Benefit Provisions: SBP elections are generally irrevocable. However, the program includes provisions that allow certain changes to be made to accommodate changes in the status of service members and their dependents.

Terminating Coverage: RCSBP coverage cannot be terminated. SBP participants have the option to terminate their elections between the 25th and 36th month after enrolling. They cannot make any changes to their elections during this period - only terminate it - so it is important that they give careful consideration to their elections before they make them. Spouse concurrence is required. Declining coverage or terminating coverage is rarely a good idea because family circumstances can change over time. If a member’s full SBP coverage for the spouse at time of retirement is not needed or desired, it might become appropriate for a subsequent spouse if that marriage ends by death or divorce. Those who terminate will never be able to re-enroll, regardless of any changes in their health or marital status. RCSBP premiums will continue as the premiums are for coverage already received.

Service members retired due to disability have the option of discontinuing participation in SBP if they have been rated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as being totally disabled for 5 or more continuous years since retirement or for 10 or more continuous years commencing after retirement (because such deaths are presumed to be service-connected, thereby entitling the surviving spouse to DIC, which did offset SBP dollar-for-dollar, however this offset has been eliminated). Spouse concurrence is required. Upon the Retired Service member’s death, the surviving spouse would be entitled to a refund of all premiums paid. If the Retired Service member’s disability rating is withdrawn or reduced, the Retired Service member may resume SBP coverage within one year after the VA rating has been withdrawn or reduced. Premiums paid for Spouse SBP coverage will be refunded to the spouse at the death of the Retired Service member. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 modified the law that requires an offset of Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) payments for Surviving spouses who are also entitled to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The SBP offset by DIC was eliminated 1 January 2023 and the reason to withdraw from SBP due to a totally disabled VA rating no longer applies.

Retired Service members who become employed under the Federal Civil Service System and subsequently choose to waive their military retired pay in order to have their years of service credited toward Federal Civil Service retirement will have their SBP election terminated if they elect the Federal Civil Service survivor benefit. If they do not elect the Federal Civil Service survivor benefit, they must continue participating in SBP, paying premiums by direct remittance to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).

SBP and RCSBP premiums are payable for a total of 30 years (360 months) and attainment of age 70: Premiums paid for any beneficiary category count toward paid-up status (spouse, child, former spouse, etc.). Periods during which there are no eligible beneficiaries, and therefore no premium payments, do not count. For example, if a service member enrolled in SBP and then got divorced and remained single for five years, they would not pay premiums during those five years, nor would they during their first year of remarriage (because premiums are only paid during periods in which there is an eligible beneficiary, and a new spouse does not become eligible until after one year of marriage). Those six years, therefore, would not count toward paid-up status. However, if the member has Spouse and Child(ren) SBP coverage and continues paying Child(ren) Only SBP premiums during those six years, they will count.

SBP and RCSBP premiums are paid with pre-tax dollars: Since RCSBP/SBP premiums are paid in the form of a reduction in retired pay, they are not included as taxable income. If, for example, one's SBP premium is $100, and they are in the 28% marginal tax bracket, their true out-of-pocket cost would be only $72 ($100 - 28% = $72). That is important to know if one is considering purchasing life insurance as an alternative to SBP based upon their relative costs.

SBP and RCSBP annuities are taxable income to survivors: Retired Service members get the tax break on the premiums while they are alive (and likely in a higher income tax bracket than their survivors), but their survivors' RCSBP/SBP benefits are taxable (usually at lower rates) at the federal level and in most states.

Continuing Eligibility:

Gray Area Service members continue to be eligible to participate in RCSBP if they have maintained coverage since their NOE for all beneficiaries who were eligible when they received their NOE or for whom they acquired after their NOE. For Option B and C elections, this would extend to the participation in SBP. For Gray Area Service members who decline RCSBP coverage (Option A), they will be eligible to participate in SBP upon their non-regular retirement for whatever eligible beneficiaries they have at that time. See below paragraph on eligibility for SBP for more details.

Retired Service members continue to be eligible to participate in SBP if they have maintained coverage since retirement for all beneficiaries who were eligible when they retired or for whom they acquired after retirement, i.e., if a Retired Service member declines coverage for a spouse acquired after retirement, the Retired Service member will never be able to cover a subsequent spouse. Similarly, if a Retired Service member has no children at time of retirement but subsequently acquires children through birth, adoption, marriage, or as a foster parent, the Retired Service member has one year from the date of acquiring them to name them as SBP beneficiaries. If the Retired Service member does not do so, the Retired Service member may never elect coverage for a child thereafter. If a service member elects coverage for children at time of retirement, ALL children subsequently acquired are automatically immediately eligible as SBP beneficiaries, without option. There are no provisions to terminate coverage for children, except during the 1-year period between the 25th and 36th month immediately after retirement.

Unmarried surviving spouses remain eligible to receive RCSBP/SBP benefits for life unless they remarry before age 55. In such cases, their eligibility is "suspended", rather than terminated, and will resume if their remarriage ends by death or divorce.

For more information, please contact Air Force Retiree Services at 800-525-0102 or visit the web page at: 
https://www.retirees.af.mil/Library/SBP/

To obtain a detailed estimate of your survivor benefits, including SBP payments to eligible dependents, visit the MyAirForceBenefits Survivor Calculator (CAC or DS Logon account needed):
https://www.myairforcebenefits.us.af.mil/Benefit-Calculators/Survivor-Benefits

To obtain a detailed estimate of your retired pay and SBP premium costs visit the MyAirForceBenefits Retirement Calculator (CAC or DS Logon account needed:
https://www.myairforcebenefits.us.af.mil/Benefit-Calculators/Retirement

Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Compensation SBP website:
https://militarypay.defense.gov/Benefits/Survivor-Benefit-Program/

Air Force Casualty:
https://www.afpc.af.mil/Airman-and-Family/Casualty-Operations/

DFAS "Manage your SBP Annuity" website:
https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/survivors/manage.html

DFAS “SBP-DIC Offset Phased Elimination News”:
https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/survivors/SBP-DIC-News/