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OFFICIAL GUIDELINES
Any member of the Reserve Officers’ Training
The Department of Defense Financial
Management Regulations (DODFMR), Volume 7A,
part A, covers completely the requirements and laws
governing the payment of a death gratuity. The Source
Data System Procedures Manual (SDSPROMAN),
Volume 2, and the DFAS Pay/Personnel Procedures
Manual (Navy) (DFASPPN), Volume 2, cover the
procedures for payment of the death gratuity.
ELIGIBILITY OF MEMBERS FOR WHOM
PAYABLE
Any person who is appointed, enlisted, or inducted
into a branch of the military service, including the
Reserve components, and cadets or midshipmen of the
service academies, is considered to be a member of the
military service. If the member dies, a death gratuity is
payable to the eligible beneficiaries undercurrent laws
and policies. Examples of members for whom death
gratuities are payable include those in the following
categories:
A member who dies while on active duty or
while traveling to or from such duty.
A member or former member who dies during
the 120-day period beginning on the day
following the date of discharge or release, under
honorable conditions, from active duty
(including retirement for either disability or
length of service). In this case, the
Administrator of Veterans Affairs must
determine that the death resulted from disease or
injury incurred or aggravated while the member
was on active duty or in an authorized travel
status to or from such duty.
Any person who dies while traveling to or from
a place for final acceptance into the military
service or who dies at the place for entry upon
active duty (other than for training) in the
military service, as long as the person has been
ordered or directed to go to that place, and has
been provisionally accepted for that duty.
A member whose death is determined by
administrative finding under the Missing
Persons Act.
A reservist who dies while traveling directly to
or from active duty.
Corps who dies while performing annual
training duty under orders for a period of more
than 13 days or while performing authorized
travel to or from that annual training duty. Also,
any applicant for membership in the Reserve
Officers’ Training Corps who dies while
attending field training or a practice cruise or
while performing authorized travel to or from the
place where the training or cruise is conducted.
ELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIES
When officially notified that a member of the
command has died, the CO maintaining the member’s
personnel or service records determines if an eligible
death gratuity beneficiary exists. Legal assistance
officers can help in cases involving questions of law.
Generally, a death gratuity is payable to, or for,
individuals in the following categories who are defined
as the authorized living survivors of the decedent:
Lawful spouse
Child, or children, in equal shares (without
regard to age or marital status)
Member’s relatives, consisting of parents,
brothers, sisters, or any combination thereof as
designated by the member
Surviving parents in equal shares
Surviving brothers and sisters in equal shares
All eligible survivors are restricted to these
categories. If there are no survivors as previously
described, the death gratuity is not payable to any other
person. For clarification, let’s take a closer look at each
of these categories.
Lawful Spouse
A lawful spouse is a man or woman who is legally
married to the member at the time of the member’s
death. This is determined by entitlement to basic
allowance for quarters (BAQ) or evidence of
assignment of government quarters to a member and
spouse.
In the absence of such proof, documentary
evidence of marriage and proof of termination of any
prior marriage of either the beneficiary or decedent may
be used.
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