COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND GUARANTEES (Details 3)	6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 MetLife Inc. (MetLife) USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Standby letters of credit USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Indemnification related to breaches of general representations and warranties MetLife Inc. (MetLife) USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Indemnification related to breaches of general representations and warranties AIG Star and AIG Edison USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Indemnification related to breaches of general representations and warranties AIG Star and AIG Edison JPY (¥)	Jun. 30, 2012 Other indemnification USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Tax indemnification MetLife Inc. (MetLife) USD ($)
Guarantees
Amount outstanding under standby letters of credit at end of period		$ 322,000,000
Aggregate deductible amount under guarantee			125,000,000			0	50,000,000
Maximum amount exposed under guarantee			2,250,000,000	1,300,000,000	102,000,000,000		200,000,000
Payments made or placed in escrow accounts at end of period	1,600,000,000
Amount required to be held in escrow	0
Minimum amount exposed under guarantee				51,300,000	4,100,000,000
Amount released in accordance with the MetLife escrow agreement from the sale of ALICO	$ 950,000,000