Purchase and Sale Program	12 Months Ended
Purchase and Sale Program	Dec. 31, 2017
Purchase And Sale Program [Abstract]
Purchase and Sale Program	2. Purchase and Sale Program Beneficiaries may instruct the program agent for the Purchase and Sale Program to withdraw their allocated shares from the Trust for sale through the Purchase and Sale Program. Trust Interests of 5,693,260, 5,409,612 and 5,950,881 were redeemed for this purpose, which generated net realized investment gains of $279,435 thousand, $167,262 thousand and $222,943 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Beneficiaries allocated less than 1,000 shares of Common Stock under the Plan are also entitled to purchase in the Purchase and Sale Program additional shares to bring their Trust Interests up to 1,000 shares, subject to a minimum of $250 per purchase (or such lesser amount that would cause the Beneficiary to hold the 1,000 maximum number of Trust Interests). Trust Interests of 58,469, 92,838 and 96,882 for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, were issued for this purpose. The number of Trust Interests allocated to Beneficiaries will be adjusted for any shares of Common Stock purchased or sold in the Purchase and Sale Program such that the Trust Interests held by a Beneficiary will always equal the number of shares of Common Stock allocated to the Beneficiary. Beneficiaries may withdraw all, but generally not less than all, of their allocated shares of Common Stock at any time by providing written notice to the Custodian. After the passage of sufficient time, any unclaimed cash and Common Stock becomes property of the state of last known residence of the Beneficiary, as is the case with other types of unclaimed property. The schedule by which unclaimed property escheats varies by state, but is generally within three to five years of abandonment.

METLIFE POLICYHOLDER TRUST 10-K