Related Party Transactions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions	15. Related Party Transactions The Company has various existing arrangements with its Brighthouse affiliates and MetLife for services necessary to conduct its activities. Subsequent to the Separation, certain of the MetLife services continued, as provided for under a master service agreement and various transition services agreements entered into in connection with the Separation. MetLife was no longer considered a related party upon the completion of the MetLife Divestiture on June 14, 2018. All of the MetLife transactions reported as related party activity occurred prior to the MetLife Divestiture. See Note 1 for information regarding the MetLife Divestiture. The Company has related party reinsurance, and investment and debt transactions, see Notes 6, 7 and 10 for information on these material related party transactions. Other material arrangements between the Company and its related parties not disclosed elsewhere are as follows: Shared Services and Overhead Allocations Brighthouse affiliates and MetLife provide the Company certain services, which include, but are not limited to, treasury, financial planning and analysis, legal, human resources, tax planning, internal audit, financial reporting, and information technology. The Company is charged for the MetLife services through a transition services agreement and allocated to the legal entities and products within the Company. When specific identification to a particular legal entity and/or product is not practicable, an allocation methodology based on various performance measures or activity-based costing, such as sales, new policies/contracts issued, reserves, and in-force policy counts is used. The bases for such charges are modified and adjusted by management when necessary or appropriate to reflect fairly and equitably the actual incidence of cost incurred by the Company and/or affiliate. Management believes that the methods used to allocate expenses under these arrangements are reasonable. Costs incurred under these arrangements with the Brighthouse affiliates, as well as with MetLife prior to the MetLife Divestiture that were considered related party expenses, were $1.1 billion, $1.0 billion and $847 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively and were recorded in other expenses. Revenues received from affiliates related to these agreements, recorded in universal life and investment-type product policy fees, was $234 million, $241 million and $236 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company had net receivables (payables) from/to affiliates, related to the items discussed above, of ($50) million and ($60) million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Brighthouse affiliates incur costs related to the establishment of services and infrastructure to replace those previously provided by MetLife. The Company is charged a fee to reflect the value of the available infrastructure and services provided by these costs. While management believes that the method used to allocate expenses under this arrangement is reasonable, the allocated expenses may not be indicative of those of a stand-alone entity. If expenses were allocated to the Company under this arrangement as incurred by Brighthouse affiliates, the Company would have incurred additional expenses of $68 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The Company would have incurred no additional expenses under this arrangement in 2017. Broker-Dealer Transactions Beginning in March 2017, Brighthouse Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer affiliate, began distributing the Company’s existing and future registered annuity and life products, and the MetLife broker-dealers discontinued such distributions. Prior to March 2017, the Company recognized related party revenues and expenses arising from transactions with MetLife broker-dealers that previously sold the Company’s registered annuity and life products. The related party expense for the Company was commissions collected on the sale of variable products by the Company and passed through to the broker-dealer. The related party revenue for the Company was fee income from trusts and mutual funds whose shares serve as investment options of policyholders of the Company. Fee income received from affiliates related to these transactions and recorded in other revenues was $216 million, $224 million and $202 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Commission expenses incurred from affiliates related to these transactions and recorded in other expenses was $771 million, $642 million and $638 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company also had related party fee income receivables of $17 million and $19 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The Company has various existing arrangements with its Brighthouse affiliates and MetLife for services necessary to conduct its activities. Subsequent to the Separation, certain of the MetLife services continued, as provided for under a master service agreement and various transition services agreements entered into in connection with the Separation. MetLife was no longer considered a related party upon the completion of the MetLife Divestiture on June 14, 2018. All of the MetLife transactions reported as related party activity occurred prior to the MetLife Divestiture. See Note 1 for information regarding the MetLife Divestiture.

The Company has related party reinsurance, and investment and debt transactions, see Notes 6, 7 and 10 for information on these material related party transactions. Other material arrangements between the Company and its related parties not disclosed elsewhere are as follows:

Shared Services and Overhead Allocations

Brighthouse affiliates and MetLife provide the Company certain services, which include, but are not limited to, treasury, financial planning and analysis, legal, human resources, tax planning, internal audit, financial reporting, and information technology. The Company is charged for the MetLife services through a transition services agreement and allocated to the legal entities and products within the Company. When specific identification to a particular legal entity and/or product is not practicable, an allocation methodology based on various performance measures or activity-based costing, such as sales, new policies/contracts issued, reserves, and in-force policy counts is used. The bases for such charges are modified and adjusted by management when necessary or appropriate to reflect fairly and equitably the actual incidence of cost incurred by the Company and/or affiliate. Management believes that the methods used to allocate expenses under these arrangements are reasonable. Costs incurred under these arrangements with the Brighthouse affiliates, as well as with MetLife prior to the MetLife Divestiture that were considered related party expenses, were $1.1 billion, $1.0 billion and $847 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively and were recorded in other expenses. Revenues received from affiliates related to these agreements, recorded in universal life and investment-type product policy fees, was $234 million, $241 million and $236 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The Company had net receivables (payables) from/to affiliates, related to the items discussed above, of ($50) million and ($60) million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Brighthouse affiliates incur costs related to the establishment of services and infrastructure to replace those previously provided by MetLife. The Company is charged a fee to reflect the value of the available infrastructure and services provided by these costs. While management believes that the method used to allocate expenses under this arrangement is reasonable, the allocated expenses may not be indicative of those of a stand-alone entity. If expenses were allocated to the Company under this arrangement as incurred by Brighthouse affiliates, the Company would have incurred additional expenses of $68 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The Company would have incurred no additional expenses under this arrangement in 2017.

Broker-Dealer Transactions

Beginning in March 2017, Brighthouse Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer affiliate, began distributing the Company’s existing and future registered annuity and life products, and the MetLife broker-dealers discontinued such distributions. Prior to March 2017, the Company recognized related party revenues and expenses arising from transactions with MetLife broker-dealers that previously sold the Company’s registered annuity and life products. The related party expense for the Company was commissions collected on the sale of variable products by the Company and passed through to the broker-dealer. The related party revenue for the Company was fee income from trusts and mutual funds whose shares serve as investment options of policyholders of the Company. Fee income received from affiliates related to these transactions and recorded in other revenues was $216 million, $224 million and $202 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Commission expenses incurred from affiliates related to these transactions and recorded in other expenses was $771 million, $642 million and $638 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company also had related party fee income receivables of $17 million and $19 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.