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Title 38 — Veterans' BenefitsRelease 119-73not60

§5305 Waiver of Retired Pay

Title 38 › Part IV— GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Chapter 53— SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS › § 5305

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Unless section 1414 of title 10 says otherwise, a person getting retired pay from the Armed Forces, NOAA, or the Public Health Service who would qualify for a pension or other compensation overseen by the Secretary can receive that pension by filing a waiver that reduces their retired pay by the same amount. The waiver must be filed with the office that pays the retired pay, and that office must notify the Secretary it got the waiver, the amount waived, and the date the pay was cut.

Full Legal Text

Title 38, §5305

Veterans' Benefits — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Except as provided in section 1414 of title 10, any person who is receiving pay pursuant to any provision of law providing retired or retirement pay to persons in the Armed Forces, or as a commissioned officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or of the Public Health Service, and who would be eligible to receive pension or compensation under the laws administered by the Secretary if such person were not receiving such retired or retirement pay, shall be entitled to receive such pension or compensation upon the filing by such person with the department by which such retired or retirement pay is paid of a waiver of so much of such person’s retired or retirement pay as is equal in amount to such pension or compensation. To prevent duplication of payments, the department with which any such waiver is filed shall notify the Secretary of the receipt of such waiver, the amount waived, and the effective date of the reduction in retired or retirement pay.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2004—Pub. L. 108–454 substituted “Except as provided in section 1414 of title 10, any” for “Any” in first sentence. 1991—Pub. L. 102–40 renumbered section 3105 of this title as this section. Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(a)(2)(A)(viii), substituted “Secretary” for “Veterans’ Administration”. Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(a)(1), substituted “administered by the Secretary” for “administered by the Veterans’ Administration”. 1986—Pub. L. 99–576 substituted “such person” for “he” and “such person’s” for “his”. 1970—Pub. L. 91–621 substituted “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration” for “Coast and Geodetic Survey”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

38 U.S.C. § 5305

Title 38 — Veterans' Benefits

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60