Title 10Armed ForcesRelease 119-73not60

§1484 Pensioners, Indigent Patients, and Persons Who Die on Military Reservations

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part II— PERSONNEL › Chapter 75— DECEASED PERSONNEL › Subchapter II— DEATH BENEFITS › § 1484

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

If no one else can arrange proper disposition, the department secretary may take care of the remains of pensioners, poor patients who die in department hospitals, and people who die on that department’s military reservations. The department can pay six kinds of costs: notifying next of kin, preparing the body (including cremation), providing clothing, supplying a casket or urn with an outer box, transporting the remains to a cemetery chosen by the secretary, and burying them.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1484

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

If proper disposition of the remains cannot otherwise be made, the Secretary concerned may provide for the care and disposition of the remains of pensioners and indigent patients who die in hospitals operated by his department and of persons who die on the military reservations of that department and, incident thereto, pay the necessary expenses of— (1)
(2)preparation of the remains for burial, including cremation;
(3)furnishing of clothing;
(4)furnishing of a casket or urn, or both, with outside box;
(5)transportation of the remains to a cemetery selected by the Secretary; and
(6)interment of the remains.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 14845:2156 (as applicable to armed forces).July 15, 1954, ch. 507, § 6 (as applicable to armed forces), 68 Stat. 479. The words “If proper disposition of the remains cannot otherwise be made” are substituted for 5:2156 (last sentence). The words “maintained and” and “incurred for”, and the words “articles of” in clause (3), are omitted as surplusage. The words “of that department” are inserted for clarity.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1484

Title 10Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60