1.Modification of scheme for payment of death
gratuity payable with respect to members of the Armed Forces
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The death gratuity authorized under
sections 1475 to 1480 of title 10, United States Code, was intended, when
originally enacted to provide an immediate cash payment to assist survivors of
deceased members of the Armed Forces to meet their financial needs during the
period immediately following a member's death and before other survivor
benefits become available.
(2)The death gratuity, when first implemented
in 1908, amounted to six months of a service member's pay and, until 1991,
could not exceed $3,000.
(3)However, following the attacks of September
11, 2001, and the initiation of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi
Freedom, Congress determined that the death benefits available to survivors of
members of the Armed Forces should be substantially increased.
(4)The National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2006, which was enacted on January 6, 2006, as Public Law 109–163,
increased the amount of the death gratuity to $100,000, effective retroactively
to October 7, 2001.
(5)Under section 1477 of title 10, United
States Code, the law authorizing the death gratuity, those living relatives of
deceased members of the Armed Forces who shall receive the death gratuity are
specifically designated. Service members are not provided with the opportunity
to make an election choosing a beneficiary other than those set forth in
section 1477 of title 10, United States Code.
(6)The increased death gratuity, in
combination with benefits available under the Servicemembers' Group Life
Insurance program, the Survivor Benefit Plan, and Dependency and Indemnity
Compensation provide significant support and compensation to the next of kin of
deceased members of the Armed Forces. Individual members are best qualified to
determine who the beneficiaries for death benefits should be and should be
afforded the opportunity to make these selections at appropriate times
throughout military service and particularly prior to mobilization or
deployment to a combat zone.
(7)Under the current system, many members of
the Armed Forces have designated individuals as beneficiaries for the death
gratuity in a manner not provided for by law. In these cases, the wishes of
these members regarding the disposition of the death gratuity has in many cases
not been implemented, to the detriment of their children and other loved
ones.
(b)It is the sense of Congress that all
members of the Armed Forces should be given the opportunity to affirmatively
select who shall receive the death gratuity and that the Secretary of Defense
and the Secretaries of the military departments should take prompt action to
afford members the opportunity to make an election in writing about the
disposition of the death gratuity proceeds and to provide appropriate and
timely counseling about the manner in which the proceeds of the death gratuity
and other forms of insurance will be administered.
(c)
(1)Subsection (a) of section 1477 of title 10,
United States Code, is amended by striking all that follows on the
following list:
and inserting the following:
(1)To any individual designated by the person
in writing.
(2)If there is no person so designated, to the
surviving spouse of the person.
(3)If there is none of the above, to the
children (as prescribed by subsection (b)) of the person and the descendants of
any deceased children by representation.
(4)If there is none of the above, to the
parents (as prescribed by subsection (c)) of the person or the survivor of
them.
(5)If there is none of the above, to the duly
appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the person.
(6)If there is none of the above, to other
next of kin of the person entitled under the laws of domicile of the person at
the time of the person's
death.
.
(2)Such section is further amended—
(A)in subsection (b), by striking
Subsection (a)(2)
in the matter preceding paragraph (1) and
inserting Subsection (a)(3)
;
(B)by striking (c) and inserting the following
new subsection (c):
(c)For purposes of subsection (a)(4), parents
include fathers and mothers through adoption. However, only one father and one
mother may be recognized in any case, and preference shall be given to those
who exercised a parental relationship on the date, or most nearly before the
date, on which the decedent entered a status described in section 1475 or 1476
of this title.
;
and
(C)by striking subsection (d).
(3)The amendments made by
this subsection shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(4)Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the
provisions of section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, as in effect on the
day before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall continue to apply to
each member of the Armed Forces covered by such section until the earlier of
the following—
(A)the date on which such member makes the
designation contemplated by paragraph (1) of section 1477(a) of such title (as
amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection); or
(B)January 1, 2008.
(d)
(1)Not later than April 1, 2007, the Secretary
of Defense shall prescribe regulations to implement the amendments to section
1477 of title 10, United States Code, made by subsection (c).
(2)The regulations required by paragraph (1)
shall include forms for the making of the designation contemplated by paragraph
(1) of section 1477(a) of title 10, United States Code (as amended by
subsection (c)), and instructions for members of the Armed Forces in the
filling out of such forms.