I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 454 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for forgiveness of certain 

overpayments of retired pay paid to deceased retired members of the 

Armed Forces following their death. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2015 

Mr. JONES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for forgiveness of certain overpayments of retired pay paid to 

deceased retired members of the Armed Forces following 

their death. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Retiree Sur5 vivor Comfort Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FORGIVENESS OF CERTAIN OVERPAYMENTS OF RE2 TIRED PAY PAID FOR PERIODS AFTER DEATH 

3 OF RETIRED MEMBERS. 

4 (a) FORGIVENESS WHEN PAYMENTS DEPOSITED TO

5 JOINT ACCOUNTS.—Section 2771 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(e) The United States shall forgive any overpayment 

9 of retired or retainer pay arising from payment of such 

10 retired or retainer pay for any period after the date of 

11 the death of the recipient through the last day of the 

12 month in which such death occurs if such payment is elec13 tronically deposited in an accredited financial institution 

14 to a joint account bearing the name of the decedent and 

15 another individual who is the decedent’s designated bene16 ficiary under subsection (a)(1).’’. 

17 (b) COORDINATION WITH SURVIVOR BENEFIT

18 PLAN.—Section 1450 of title 10, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or that ap21 plies under subsection (n)’’ after ‘‘under subsection 

22 (j)’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 

25 ‘‘(n) SPECIAL EFFECTIVE DATE RULE WHEN FINAL

26 RETIRED PAY OVERPAYMENT IS FORGIVEN.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ANNUITY EFFECTIVE ON FIRST DAY OF

2 MONTH AFTER DEATH.—In a case covered by para3 graph (2), an annuity payable to a surviving spouse 

4 shall be effective on the first day of the first month 

5 beginning after the death of the person to whom sec6 tion 1448 of this title applies, rather than on the 

7 date otherwise applicable under subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(2) COVERED CASES.—Paragraph (1) applies 

9 in a case in which— 

10 ‘‘(A) there is an overpayment of retired 

11 pay of a person to whom section 1448 of this 

12 title applies that is forgiven pursuant to section 

13 2771(e) of this title; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the person who is the designated ben15 eficiary of such person under section 

16 2771(a)(1) of this title is the surviving spouse 

17 of such person.’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (e) of section 

19 2771 of title 10, United States Code, as added by sub20 section (a), shall apply with respect to payments made to 

21 persons dying on or after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act. 

Æ 


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