[Title 32 CFR 716.10]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - July 1, 2002 Edition]
[Title 32 - NATIONAL DEFENSE]
[Subtitle A - Department of Defense (Continued)]
[Chapter Vi - DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY]
[Subchapter C - PERSONNEL]
[Part 716 - DEATH GRATUITY]
[Subpart B - Provisions Applicable to the Navy]
[Sec. 716.10 - Procedures.]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


32NATIONAL DEFENSE52002-07-012002-07-01false716.10Sec. 716.10NATIONAL DEFENSEDepartment of Defense (Continued)DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVYPERSONNELDEATH GRATUITYProvisions Applicable to the Navy
Sec. 716.10  Procedures.

    (a) Action by commanding officers. See Sec. 716.7(b)--(1) Immediate 
payment--Eligible beneficiary residing with deceased member. Commanding 
officers, in order to expedite the payment of the death gratuity, will, 
upon official notification of death, ascertain the duty status of the 
deceased, and determine the eligibility of the spouse or designated 
beneficiary who was residing with the deceased member on or near his 
duty station at the time of his death. The services of a staff or 
district legal officer will be utilized as required. Every effort should 
be made to effect prompt payment (within 24 hours, if possible). It is 
the intent that determinations of

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entitlement by commands in the field will be confined largely to spouses 
and parents designated by the service member who were living with him at 
the time of his death.
    (2) Questionable cases. If entitlement to the death gratuity payment 
is questionable after seeking advice of the staff or district legal 
officer, such case will be forwarded promptly to the Chief of Naval 
Personnel (Pers-732) with a brief statement relative to the facts which 
raised the issue of doubt. Every effort will be made to expedite action 
by a review of the official records of the decedent in the Bureau of 
Naval Personnel and the Family Allowance Activity at Cleveland, Ohio. 
Those cases wherein the service member was in a deserter status, absent 
without leave, or in the custody of civil authorities at the time of 
death, wherein guardianship must be provided for the protection of the 
decedent's children, or wherein a technicality exists which makes 
immediate certification legally unsound, will be considered 
questionable.
    (3) Exception. Where the entitlement of the survivor who is living 
with the deceased at the time of his death is questionable and such 
survivor is in dire financial circumstances, the Chief of Naval 
Personnel (Pers-G23) shall be requested by message to make an 
adjudication of entitlement. If it is determined that the survivor is 
entitled to the payment, the commanding officer will be authorized by 
message to execute DD Form 397.
    (b) Action by Casualty Assistance Calls Program (CACP) officers; 
Potential beneficiary not residing with member--(1) Widow(er). The CACP 
officer, on his or her initial visit to a widow(er), determines, 
propriety permitting, whether there is an urgent need for financial 
assistance. If there is an urgent need for financial assistance, the 
CACP officer should obtain DD Form 397 from any military disbursing 
office and, on his or her second visit to the widow(er), have him or her 
sign it and obtain the signatures of two witnesses on the form. It 
should be noted that the following procedure is confined to cases in 
which the decedent's eligible survivor for the death gratuity is a 
widow(er), and efforts to effect immediate payment in accordance with 
the intent of the governing statute are appropriate. In such cases, the 
CACP officer, upon learning that a widow(er), not residing with his or 
her spouse at or near the spouse's duty station, is in urgent need of 
financial assistance, shall advise the Chief of Naval Personnel (Pers-
732) of the need by message. The CACP officer shall send a copy of this 
message to the decedent's duty station, if known. Upon receipt, the 
disbursing officer will furnish the Navy Finance Center, Cleveland, Ohio 
44199, with the decedent's basic monthly pay [plus any special (see 
Sec. 716.1), incentive, and proficiency pay] in the event the pay 
account has not been forwarded previously to that center sufficiently 
early to have reached there. The CACP officer shall also send a copy of 
his message to the Navy Finance Center with the request that payment of 
the death gratuity be made upon receipt of the certification of 
beneficiary entitlement from the Chief of Naval Personnel (Pers-732).
    (2) Navy Relief. In cases where there is immediate need prior to 
receipt of the death gratuity, the Navy Relief Society will be contacted 
by the Casualty Assistance Calls Program officer.
    (c) Action by the Chief of Naval Personnel. (1) In all cases where 
death gratuity is not authorized to be paid locally and in cases where 
authority exists to pay locally but entitlement is questionable (see 
paragraph (a)(2) of this section), the Chief of Naval Personnel (Pers-
732) will expedite adjudication of claims. As indicated in paragraph 
(b)(1) of this section CACP officers will refer cases of urgent 
financial need to the Chief of Naval Personnel (Pers-732) by message for 
action.
    (2) If a minor is entitled to a death gratuity under 10 U.S.C. 1477 
not exceeding $1,000, such death gratuity may be paid to the father or 
mother as natural guardian on behalf of the minor, provided a legally 
appointed guardian has not been appointed, upon substantiation by a 
sworn (notarized) statement of the natural guardian:
    (i) That no legal guardian has been appointed and that such an 
appointment is not contemplated;

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    (ii) The relationship of the natural guardian to the minor;
    (iii) That the minor is in the actual custody of the natural 
guardian;
    (iv) That an amount paid to the natural guardian will be held for, 
or applied to, the use and benefit of the minor.

If the death gratuity to which a minor is entitled exceeds $1,000, the 
appointment of a legal guardian on behalf of the minor is requested. 
Certification of the minor eligible to receive the death gratuity is 
made by the Chief of Naval Personnel (Pers-732) and payment is effected 
by the Navy Finance Center, Cleveland, OH 44199;
    (d) Cross-servicing procedure. Payment of the death gratuity may be 
made by a disbursing officer who is maintaining the pay record of a 
member of another service, provided the command to which the member is 
attached and which maintains his service record is in the immediate 
vicinity and certificates the beneficiary eligible to receive payment on 
the proper voucher (DD Form 397). Otherwise the pay record will be sent 
to the Army Finance Center, Air Force Finance Center, Commandant of the 
Marine Corps (Code CDB), the Navy Finance Center, of the Commandant, 
U.S. Coast Guard, as appropriate.

[24 FR 7523, Sept. 18, 1959, as amended at 44 FR 25647, May 2, 1979; 45 
FR 43165, June 26, 1980]