Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73
§2771 Final settlement of accounts: deceased members
Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART IV— - SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter CHAPTER 165— - ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY › § 2771
Summary
When a member of the armed forces dies, any money owed to them must be paid to the first person on a ranked list who was alive when they died. The list is: a person the member put in writing as their beneficiary and filed where the Secretary’s rules require; if none, the surviving spouse; then children and their descendants; then parents (split equally or the survivor); then the member’s legal representative; and finally someone who would get the money under the law where the member lived. The Secretary sets the rules for naming or changing a beneficiary and, when possible, the rules should be the same for all services. The Secretary of Defense makes the payment. Once the money is paid under these rules, no one else can reclaim it.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §2771
Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In the settlement of the accounts of a deceased member of the armed forces, an amount due from the armed force of which he was a member shall be paid to the person highest on the following list living on the date of death:
(1)Beneficiary designated by him in writing to receive such an amount, if the designation is received, before the deceased member’s death, at the place named in regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned.
(2)Surviving spouse.
(3)Children and their descendants, by representation.
(4)Father and mother in equal parts or, if either is dead, the survivor.
(5)Legal representative.
(6)Person entitled under the law of the domicile of the deceased member.
(b)Designations and changes of designation of beneficiaries under subsection (a)(1) are subject to regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned. So far as practicable, these regulations shall be uniform for the uniformed services.
(c)Payments under subsection (a) shall be made by the Secretary of Defense.
(d)A payment under this section bars recovery by any other person of the amount paid.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
1956 Act Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 2771(a) 2771(b)10:868 (less proviso).34:941a (less proviso).10:868 (proviso).34:941a (proviso).
June 30, 1906, ch. 3914, § 1 (last par. under “State or Territorial Homes for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors”); restated Dec. 7, 1944, ch. 519; restated Feb. 25, 1946, ch. 35, § 4, 60 Stat. 30. Feb. 25, 1946, ch. 35, § 1, 60 Stat. 30; Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, § 18, 63 Stat. 560. In subsections (a) and (b), the words “General Accounting Office” are substituted for the words “accounting officers”, for clarity. In subsection (a), the word “member” is substituted for the words “officers or enlisted persons”, in 10:868 and 34:941a. The words “his legal representative” are substituted for the words “a duly appointed legal representative of the estate”, since an estate, being property and not an entity, has no representative. The words “duly appointed” are omitted as surplusage. The words “highest on the following list” are substituted for the words “following order of precedence”, in 10:868 and 34:941a. Clauses (1)–(4) are substituted for the words between the first and second colons of 10:868 and 34:941a. The words “Surviving spouse” are substituted for the words “widow or widower” after the words “First, to”. In subsection (b), the words “That this section shall not be so construed as to prevent”, “or persons”, and “actually”, in 10:868 and 34:941a, are omitted as surplusage. 1958 Act Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 2771(a) 2771(b)37:361.37:362.37:365.37:364 (less proviso).
July 12, 1955, ch. 328, §§ 1–3, 4 (less proviso), 5 (first sentence), 69 Stat. 295, 296. 2771(c) 2771(d)37:363 (less last sentence).37:363 (last sentence). In subsection (a), the definition of the term “Department”, in 37:361, is omitted as unnecessary, since the particular departments referred to are spelled out in the revised text. The definition of the term “uniformed services”, in 37:361, is omitted as covered by the word “member” in this revised section and by section 3 and 4 of the Act enacting this revised section. Clauses (1)–(6) are substituted for the last 5 clauses of 37:362. The words “
Regulations
to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned” are substituted for the words “
Regulations
of the Department concerned”, since the “Department”, as such, cannot issue
Regulations
. In subsection (a)(2), the words “surviving spouse” are substituted for the words “widow or widower”. As defined in section 101(32), “spouse” includes a widower. In subsection (b), the words “are subject to” are substituted for the words “shall be made under”. In subsection (c), the word “Under” is substituted for the words “Subject to”. The words “rules and” are omitted as surplusage.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–316 amended subsec. (c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows: “Under such
Regulations
as the Comptroller General may prescribe, payments under subsection (a) shall be made by the military department concerned or the Department of Transportation, as the case may be. Payment under clause (6) of subsection (a) shall be made— “(1) upon settlement by the General Accounting Office; or “(2) as otherwise authorized by the Comptroller General.” 1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–160, § 1182(a)(11)(A), struck out “who dies after December 31, 1955” after “armed forces” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–160, § 1182(a)(11)(B), substituted “for the uniformed services” for “for the armed forces, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service”. 1980—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–513, § 511(97)(A), substituted “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration” for “Environmental Science Services Administration”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–513, § 511(97)(B), substituted “Department of Transportation” for “Department of the Treasury”. 1966—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89–718 substituted “Environmental Science Services Administration” for “Coast and Geodetic Survey”. 1960—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 86–641 substituted provisions requiring payment under clause (6) of subsection (a) to be made upon settlement by the General Accounting Office or as otherwise authorized by the Comptroller General for provisions which permitted payments under clauses (2) to (6) of subsection (a) to be made only after settlement by the General Accounting Office. 1958—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–861 amended subsec. (a) generally to restrict application of section to members of the armed forces who die after Dec. 31, 1955, and to permit payment to the designated beneficiaries, surviving spouse, children and their descendants, and to parents before payment to the legal representative. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 85–861 substituted provisions relating to designations and changes of designation of beneficiaries for provisions which authorized reimbursement of funeral expenses. Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 85–861 added subsecs. (c) and (d).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.
Repeals
The directory language of, but not the amendment made by, Pub. L. 89–718, § 8(a), Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1117, cited as a credit to this section, was repealed by Pub. L. 97–295, § 6(b), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1314. Final Settlement of Accounts of Members Who Died Before
January 1, 1960 Pub. L. 85–861, § 29, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1563, authorized the General Accounting Office, in the settlement of the accounts of a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps who died before Jan. 1, 1956, to allow any amount due to the person highest on a list of persons living on the date of settlement and to provide reimbursement for funeral expenses from the amount due the decedent’s estate. Designation of Beneficiary Made Before
January 1, 1956 Pub. L. 85–861, § 31, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1563, provided that: “The designation of a beneficiary made for the purposes of any six months’ death gratuity, including the designation of a person whose right to the gratuity does not depend upon that designation, and received in the military department concerned, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Commerce, or the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, as the case may be, before
January 1, 1956, is considered as the designation of a beneficiary for the purposes of section 2771 of title 10, United States Code [this section], section 714 of title 32, United States Code, and section 3 and 4 of this Act [amending section 857a of Title 33, and section 213a of Title 42], in the absence of a designation under one of those sections, unless the member making the designation was missing, missing in action, in the hands of a hostile force, or interned in a foreign country any time after
July 11, 1955, and before
January 1, 1956.”
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
of Public Health Service, see note set out under section 802 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 2771
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73