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Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program: Death Benefits
The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program provides a one-time financial benefit to the eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths are the direct and proximate result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty.
Who is eligible?
How do I apply?
How is payment received?
Eligibility
Beneficiaries of the PSOB Death Benefits Program must comply with the PSOB Office's administrative review process by producing sufficient evidence to show that the public safety officer died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.
Eligibility Dates
- State and local law enforcement officers and firefighters are covered for line-of-duty deaths occurring on or after September 29, 1976.
- Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters are covered for line-of-duty deaths occurring on or after October 12, 1984.
- Federal, state, and local public rescue squads and ambulance crews are covered for line-of-duty deaths occurring on or after October 15, 1986.
- As of October 30, 2000, employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state, local, and tribal emergency management and civil defense agency employees working in cooperation with FEMA are considered to be public safety officers under the PSOB Program, provided they were performing official, hazardous duties related to a declared major disaster or emergency. Consequently, these individuals are covered for line-of-duty deaths occurring on or after that date.
- Retroactive to September 11, 2001, chaplains are included in the PSOB Act definition of a public safety officer.
- Effective December 15, 2003, public safety officers are covered for line-of-duty deaths that are a direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke, as defined in the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2003.
Applying for Death Benefits
Eligible survivors may file claims directly with the PSOB Office or through the public agency in which the public safety officer served.
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After a fatality occurs, the department should:
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Make arrangements for an autopsy, which often provides the PSOB Office with useful information regarding the cause of death.
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Identify a department member to serve as a liaison between the department and the PSOB Office.
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After being named, the department's liaison should:
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Call the PSOB Office at 1–888–744–6513.
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Provide accurate, up-to-date information regarding:
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The public agency's name.
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The liaison's name.
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Phone numbers for the department and the liaison.
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A fax number or mailing address so the PSOB Office can send the claim initiation guidance letter.
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The name of the deceased (public safety officer).
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The date of the incident and the deceased's date of death.
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A brief description of the incident.
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Relay the information very carefully and include only what is known. There should be no speculation as to the cause of death.
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Leave a phone message with the liaison's name and telephone number if calling during the evening or on a weekend.
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After being informed of an incident by the department liaison or other sources, the PSOB Office will mail a Claims Guidance Package to the department liaison as soon as possible. Included in this package are the following items:
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Claim initiation guidance letter.
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Report of Public Safety Officer's Death form.
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Claim for Death Benefits form.
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Consent to Release Confidential Information form.
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Copy of the PSOB Act.
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After receiving the guidance package, the liaison should:
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Meet with the claimant as soon as possible to complete the Claim for Death Benefits and Report of Public Safety Officer's Death forms.
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Ensure that the family provides a copy of the death notice.
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Gather the other documentation requested in the claim initiation guidance letter.
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Upon receiving the claim package from the liaison, the PSOB Office may contact the department liaison and/or family if further information is needed.
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Because determining the eligibility of claimants under the PSOB Program is often time consuming, these benefits are not intended to meet emergency financial needs. However, the PSOB Office works closely with Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), both of which provide an array of support services that may be helpful to the survivors immediately after a line-of-duty death. When the Consent To Release Confidential Information form is signed by the claimant and returned with the other requested documents, the PSOB Office will forward the claimant's name and address to the appropriate partner agency so that contact may be initiated.
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Once the processing is completed, the PSOB Office will send a letter notifying the claimant and department of the decision reached. Should the claim be denied, information on the appeals process also will be provided.
Payment of Death Benefits
Following approval of a death benefits claim, the eligible survivors will be paid the benefit in a lump sum. This payment is made through the U.S. Department of the Treasury either by direct deposit or by check mailed to the claimant's home address (provided on the "Claim for Death Benefits" form) within 14 business days after the claimant's receipt of notification. If direct deposit is desired, the claimant will be required to submit his or her banking information.
The Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C.
§ 3796, et seq.) is retroactive to September 11, 2001, and amends the PSOB Act of 1976 in the
following ways:
- Includes chaplains in the definition of public safety officers.
- Defines chaplain as "including any individual serving as an officially recognized or
designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally
organized fire or police department who was responding to a fire, rescue, or police
emergency."
- Adds a new category of beneficiary. If the public safety officer had no surviving
spouse or eligible children, the individual designated as the beneficiary on the
officer's most recently executed life insurance policy is eligible for benefits.1
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Beneficiary Hierarchy Under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits
Act
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| Before September 11, 2001 |
On or After September 11, 2001 |
| Survived by spouse but no eligible children,2
the spouse will receive 100% of the benefit. |
Survived by spouse but no eligible children,
the spouse will receive 100% of the benefit. |
| Survived by spouse and eligible children,
the spouse will receive 50% of the benefit and the children will receive
equal shares of the remaining 50%. |
Survived by spouse and eligible children,
the spouse will receive 50% of the benefit and the children will receive
equal shares of the remaining 50%. |
| Survived by eligible children but no spouse,
the children will receive equal shares of the benefit. |
Survived by eligible children but no spouse,
the children will receive equal shares of the benefit. |
| Survived by neither a spouse nor eligible
children, the surviving parents will receive equal shares of the benefit. |
Survived by neither a spouse nor eligible
children, the benefit shall be paid to the individual designated
by the officer under his or her most recently executed life insurance policy,
provided that the beneficiary survived the officer. |
| Survived by neither a spouse, eligible
children, nor parents, a claim for benefits will not be initiated. |
Survived by neither a spouse nor eligible
children and does not have a life insurance policy, the surviving parents
will receive equal shares of the benefit. |
1. A 1-year waiting period will commence from the date of signature on the initial PSOB claim
form "Claim for Death Benefits."
2. An eligible child is defined as any natural, illegitimate, adopted, or posthumous child or stepchild of the public safety officer who, at the time of the officer's death, was 18 or under, or between 19 and 22 (inclusive) and a full-time student at an eligible educational institution, or age 18 or older and incapable of self-support due to mental or physical disabilities.
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