I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2214 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the forgiveness or offset 
of an overpayment of retired pay paid to a joint account for a period 
after the death of the retired member of the Armed Forces. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2021 
Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the forgive-
ness or offset of an overpayment of retired pay paid 
to a joint account for a period after the death of the 
retired member of the Armed Forces. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Retiree Sur-
vivor Comfort Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FORGIVENESS OR OFFSET OF OVERPAYMENT OF 
RETIRED PAY PAID TO A JOINT ACCOUNT 
FOR A PERIOD AFTER THE DEATH OF THE 
RETIRED MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) WHEN PAYMENT DEPOSITED
TO JOINT AC-
COUNT.—Section 2771 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(e) In the case of overpayment of retired or retainer 
pay, arising from payment of such retired or retainer pay 
for any period after the date of the death of a recipient 
through the last day of the month in which such death 
occurs, if such payment is electronically deposited in an 
accredited financial institution to a joint account bearing 
the name of the decedent and another individual who is 
the decedent’s designated beneficiary under subsection 
(a)(1), the Secretary of Defense— 
‘‘(1) if the decedent is an individual to whom 
section 1448 of this title applies, shall elect to— 
‘‘(A) forgive the overpayment on behalf of 
the United States; or 
‘‘(B) offset the overpayment pursuant to 
subsection (n)(2) of section 1450 this title; or 
‘‘(2) if the decedent is not an individual to 
whom section 1448 of this title applies, shall forgive 
the overpayment on behalf of the United States.’’. 
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(b) COORDINATION
WITH
SURVIVOR
BENEFIT 
PLAN.—Section 1450 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘, or that ap-
plies under subsection (n)’’ after ‘‘under subsection 
(j)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(n) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF CERTAIN FINAL RE-
TIRED PAY OVERPAYMENT.—In a case described in sec-
tion 2771(e)(1)(B) of this title, if the individual described 
in that subsection other than the decedent is the bene-
ficiary of the decedent under the Plan, each of the first 
12 payments, following the death of the decedent, of the 
annuity payable to the decedent’s beneficiary under the 
Plan, shall be reduced by one-twelfth of such overpay-
ment.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to payments made to 
persons who die on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
Æ 
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