Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Amount after tax of loss recognized that results from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Amount of divestiture of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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Goodwill (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Goodwill (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2016 Segment	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments	3	3
Goodwill		$ 0	$ 381	$ 381	$ 526
Impairments		381	0	33
Dispositions				112
MetLife Assurance Limited
Goodwill [Line Items]
Dispositions				112
Run-off [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment, net of income tax		305
Goodwill		0	$ 381	381	$ 493
Impairments		$ 381		0
Dispositions				112
Run-off [Member] \| MetLife Assurance Limited
Goodwill [Line Items]
Dispositions				$ 112