Title 2, The CongressRelease 119-102
§5305 Disposition of Unpaid Salary and Other Sums on Death of Representative or Resident Commissioner
Title 2 › CHAPTER 53 — HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS › SUBCHAPTER I — MEMBER PAY › § 5305
Summary
Pay any unpaid salary or other money owed to a Member or Resident Commissioner who dies after Congress begins to survivors in this order: (1) a person the member named in writing and filed with the Chief Administrative Officer before death; (2) the spouse; (3) children and descendants; (4) parents; (5) the estate’s legal representative or, if none, those entitled under domicile laws. Once paid this way, no one else can claim the money.
Full Legal Text
Title 2, §5305
The Congress, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
When any individual who has been elected a Member of, or Resident Commissioner to, the House of Representatives dies after the commencement of the Congress to which he has been elected, any unpaid balance of salary and other sums due such individual shall be paid to the person or persons surviving at the date of death, in the following order of precedence, and such payment shall be a bar to the recovery by any other person of amounts so paid: First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by such individual in writing to receive such unpaid balance and other sums due filed with the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives and received by the Chief Administrative Officer prior to such individual’s death; Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow or widower of such individual; Third, if there be no beneficiary or surviving spouse, to the child or children of such individual, and descendants of deceased children, by representation; Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of such individual, or the survivor of them; Fifth, if there be none of the above, to the duly appointed legal representative of the estate of the deceased individual, or if there be none, to the person or persons determined to be entitled thereto under the laws of the domicile of the deceased individual.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section was formerly classified to section 38a of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–186 struck out “(including amounts held in the trust fund account in the office of the Sergeant at Arms)” after “due such individual” in first undesignated par. and substituted “Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives and received by the Chief Administrative Officer” for “Sergeant at Arms, and received by the Sergeant at Arms” in second undesignated par. 1959—Pub. L. 86–102 inserted provisions including amounts held in trust fund account, authorizing an individual to designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries, and prescribing order of precedence in cases where no designation of beneficiary has been made.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
2 U.S.C. § 5305
Title 2, The Congress
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102