The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) announced Tuesday that 22 states have joined a $40 million settlement agreement with Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.

The settlement, which will be divided among the participating states, was reached last month following an NAIC investigation of unpaid death benefits by MetLife, which took a $117 million charge to earnings in the third quarter of 2011 related to unpaid death benefits. Iowa is not among the 22 initial states, but the Iowa Insurance Division plans to join the settlement prior to a June 29 deadline, spokesman Tom Alger said.

Under the terms of the settlement, MetLife will regularly check death records to determine if life insurance or annuity claims are owed and make efforts to locate and pay claims. If a beneficiary cannot be located within one year from the date of the match, MetLife will report the funds as unclaimed property to the appropriate state entity.

The agreement could yield more than $400 million in unpaid death benefits, the NAIC said in a release.