REINSURANCE AGREEMENTS - TEXTUAL (Details) - AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co $ in Millions	Feb. 01, 2018 USD ($)
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Reinsured risk, percent	90.00%
Amount retained, excluding cash	$ 604
Amount retained, cash	31
Amount retained	635
Deposit assets	$ 635

Reinsurance Retention Policy, Amount Retained, Cash

No definition available.

Name:	axaeq_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyAmountRetainedCash
Namespace Prefix:	axaeq_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Reinsurance Retention Policy, Amount Retained, Excluding Cash

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axaeq_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyAmountRetainedExcludingCash
Namespace Prefix:	axaeq_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Carrying amount of assets as of the balance sheet date pertaining to amounts paid by the insured (including a ceding company) under insurance or reinsurance contracts for which insurance risk is not transferred.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99397363&loc=d3e9420-108338

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DepositContractsAssets
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Stated amount that is the upper retention limit per entity policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyAmountRetained
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of risk reinsured on insurance products per entity policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyReinsuredRiskPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=axaeq_AXAEquitableLifeInsuranceCoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: