An Act to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the payment of annuities to widows and dependent children of judges.
PL 84-973 (H.R.11124), enacted 08/03/1956

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PUBLIC LAW 973-AUG. 3, 1956 
1021 
Public Law 973 
CHAPTER 944 
AN ACT 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the payment of annuities 
to widows and dependent cliildren of judges. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That (a) item 375 
ill the analysis of chapter 17 of title 28, United States Code, imme-
diately preceding section 371, is amended and a new item 376 is in-
serted immediately thereunder, to read as follows: 
"375. Annuities to widows of justices. 
"376. Annuities to widows and surviving dependent children of judges." 
(b) The catchline to section 375 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
"§ 375. Annuities to widows of justices". 
SEC. 2. Chapter 17 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting at the end thereof, immediately following section 375, a new 
section reading as follows: 
''§ 376. Annuities to widows and surviving dependent children of 
judges 
"(a) Any judge of the United States may by written election filed 
with the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts within six months after the date on which he takes office (or 
within six months after the enactment of this section) bring himself 
within the purview of this section. 
"(b) There shall be deducted and withheld from the salary of each 
judge electing to bring himself within the purview of this section a 
sum equal to 3 per centum of such judge's salary, including salary paid 
after retirement from regular active service under section 371 (b) or 
372 (a) of this title or after retirement from office by resignation on 
salary under section 371 (a) of this title. The amounts so deducted 
and withheld from the salary of each such judge shall, in accordance 
with such procedure as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General 
of the United States, be deposited in the Treasury of the United States 
to the credit of a fund to be known as the 'judicial survivors annuity 
fund' and said fund is appropriated for the payment of annuities, 
refunds and allowances as provided by this section. Every judge who 
elects to bring himself within the purview of this section shall be 
deemed thereby to consent and agree to the deductions from his salary 
as provided in this subsection, and payment less such deductions shall 
be a full and complete discharge and acquittance of all claims and 
demands whatsoever for all judicial services rendered by such judge 
during the period covered by such payment, except the right to the 
benefits to which he or his survivors shall be entitled under the provi-
sions of this section. 
"(c) Each judge who has elected to bring himself within the pur-
view of this section shall deposit, with interest at 4 per centum per 
annum to December 31, 1947, and 3 per centum per annum thereafter, 
compounded on December 31 of each year, to the credit of the judicial 
survivors annuity fund created by this section a sum equal to 3 per 
centum of his salary received for service as a judge of the United 
States (including salary received after retirement from regular active 
service under section 371 (b) or 372 (a) of this title and salary received 
after retirement from office by resignation on salary under section 371 
(a) of this title), and of his basic salary, pay, or compensation for serv-
ice as a Senator, Kepresentative, Delegate or Resident Commissioner 
in Congress and for any other civilian service within the purview of 
August 3,1956 
[H. R. 11124] 
Widows and chil-
dren of judges.. 
Annuities. 
62 Stat. 903. 
Withholding 
duction. 
de-
Deposits in fund. 
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PUBLIC LAW 973-AUG. 3, 1956 
[70 ST A T . 
Investments. 
Credits to indi-
vidual accounts. 
Refund. 
Payment to widow 
and children. 
section t07 of title 5. Such interest shall not be required for any 
period during which the judge was separated from all such service 
and was not receiving salary under section 371 (a) or 373 of this title. 
Each judge may elect to make such deposits in installments during the 
continuance of his judicial service in such amounts and under such 
conditions as ma^ be determined in each instance by the Director of 
the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. 
Notwith-
standing the failure of a judge to make such deposit, credit shall be 
allowed for the service rendered, but the annuity of the widow of such 
judge shall be reduced by an amount equal to 10 per centum of 
the amount of such deposit, computed as of the date of the death of 
such judge, unless such widow shall elect to eliminate such service 
entirely from credit under subsection (o) of this section: Provided^ 
That no deposit shall be required from a judge for any service rendered 
prior to August 1, 1920, or for any honorable service in the Army, 
Navy. Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States, 
"(d) The Secretary of the Treasur}^ shall invest from time to time, 
in interest-bearing securities of the United States or Federal farm loan 
bonds, such portions of the judicial survivors annuity fund as in his 
judgment may not be immediately required for the payment of 
annuities, refunds and allowances as provided in this section. 
The 
income derived from such investments shall constitute a part of said 
fund for the purpose of paying annuities and of carrying out the 
provisions of subsections (f), (g), (i),and (j) of this section. 
"(e) The amount deposited by or deducted and withheld from the 
salary of each judge electing to bring himself within the purview of 
this section for credit to the judicial survivors annuity fund created 
by this section covering service from and after August 1, 1920, shall 
be credited to an individual account of such judge. 
"(f) If any judge who has elected to bring himself within the 
purview of this section resigns from office otherwise than on salary 
under section 371 (a) of this title, the amount credited to his individ-
ual account, together with interest at 4 per centum per annum to 
December 31, 1947, and 3 per centum per annum, thereafter, com-
pounded on December 31st of each year, to the date of his relinquish-
ment of office, shall be returned to him. 
" (g) In case any judge who has elected to bring himself within the 
purview of this section shall die while in office (whether in regular 
active service or retired from such service under section 371 (b) or 
372 (a) of this title), or after retirement from office by resignation on 
salary under section 371 (a) of this title, after having rendered at 
least five years of civilian service computed as prescribed in sub-
section (o) of this section, for the last five years of which the salary 
deductions provided for by subsection (b) of this section or the 
deposits required by subsection (c) of this section have actually been 
made— 
" (1) if such judge is survived by a widow but not by a depend-
ent child, there shall be paid to such widow an annuity beginning 
with the day of the death of the judge or following the widow's 
attainment of the age of fifty years, whichever is the later, in an 
amount computed as provided in subsection (n) of this section; 
or 
"(2) if such judge is survived by a widow and a dependent 
child or children, there shall be paid to such widow an immediate 
annuity in an amount computed as provided in subsection (n) 
of this section, and there shall also be paid to or on behalf of each 
• such child an immediate annuity equal to one-half the amount of 
the annuity of such widow, but not to exceed $900 per year divided 
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PUBLIC LAW 973-AUG. 3, 1956 
1023 
by the number of such children or $360 per year, whichever is 
lesser; or 
"(3) if such judge leaves no surviving widow or widower but 
leaves a surviving dependent child or children, there shall be 
paid to or on behalf of each such child an immediate annuity 
equal to the amount of the annuity to which such widow would 
have been entitled under paragraph (2) of this subsection had 
she survived, but not to exceed $480 per year. 
"The annuity payable to a widow under this subsection shall be 
terminable upon her death or remarriage. The annuity payable to a 
child under this subsection shall be terminable upon (A) his attaining 
the age of eighteen years, (B) his marriage, or (C) his death, which-
ever first occurs, except that if such child is incapable of self-support 
by reason of mental or physical disability his annuity shall be termina-
ble only upon death, marriage, or recovery from such disability. 
In 
case of the death of a widow of a judge leaving a dependent child or 
children of the judge surviving her the annuity of such child or chil-
dren shall be recomputed and paid as provided in paragraph (3) of 
this subsection. In any case in which the annuity of a dependent child, 
under this subsection, is terminated, the annuities of any remaining 
dependent child or children, based upon the service of the same judge, 
shall be recomputed and paid as though the child whose annuity was 
so terminated had not survived such judge. 
"(h) As used in this section— 
"(1) The term 'widow' means a surviving wife of an individual, 
who either (A) shall have been married to such individual for at least 
two years immediately preceding his death or (B) is the mother of 
issue by such marriage, and who has not remarried. 
"(2) The term 'dependent child' means an unmarried child, includ-
ing a dependent stepchild or an adopted child, who is under the age of 
eighteen years or who because of physical or mental disability is in-
capable of self-support. 
Questions of dependency and disability arising under this section 
shall be determined by the Director of the Administrative Office of the 
United States Courts subject to review only by the Judicial Conference 
of the United States the decision of which shall be final and conclusive. 
The Director may order or direct at any time such medical or other 
examinations as he shall deem necessary to determine the facts 
relative to the nature and degree of disability of any dependent child 
who is an annuitant or applicant for annuity under this section, and 
may suspend or deny any such annuity for failure to submit to any 
examination. 
"(i) In any case in which (1) a judge who has elected to bring 
himself within the purview of this section shall die while in office 
(whether in regular active service or retired from such service under 
section 371 (b) or 372 (a) of this title), or after retirement from 
office by resignation on salary under section 371 (a) of this title, before 
having rendered five years of civilian service computed as prescribed 
in subsection (o) of this section, or after having rendered five years of 
such civilian service but without a survivor or survivors entitled to 
annuity benefits provided by subsection (g) of this section, or (2) 
the right of all persons entitled to annuity under subsection (g) of 
this section based on the service of such judge shall terminate before 
a valid claim therefor shall have been established, the total amount 
credited to the individual account of such judge, with interest at 4 
per centum per annum to December 31, 1947, and 3 per centum per 
annum, thereafter, compounded on December 31st of each year, to the 
date of the death of such judge, shall be paid, upon the establishment 
of a valid claim therefor, to the person or persons surviving at the 
Termination of 
annuity. 
"Widow" 
"D e p e n d e n t 
child." 
Detennination of 
d e p e n d e ncy and 
disability. 
Payment to cer-
tain survivors. 
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PUBLIC LAW 973-AUG. 3, 1956 
[70 ST A T . 
Order of prece-
den ce of payments. 
P a y m e n t 
guardian, etc. 
P a y m e n t 
in 
m o n t h l y install-
ments, etc. 
date title to the payment arises, in the following order of precedence, 
and such payment shall be a bar to recovery by any other person: 
"First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries whom the judge may have 
designated by a writing received by the Administrative Office of the 
United States Courts prior to his death; 
"Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow of such judge; 
"Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of such judge 
and the descendants of any deceased children by representation; 
"Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of such judge or the 
survivor of them; 
"Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or 
administrator of the estate of such judge; 
"Sixth, if none of the above, to such other next of kin of such judge 
as may be determined by the Director of the Administrative Office of 
the United States Courts to be entitled under the laws of the domicile 
of such judge at the time of his death. 
"Determination as to the widow or child of a judge for the purposes 
of this subsection shall be made by the Director of the Administrative 
Office of the United States Courts without regard to the definition of 
these terms stated in subsection (h) of this section. 
"(j) In any case in which the annuities of all persons entitled to 
annuity based upon the service of a judge shall terminate before the 
aggregate amount of annuity paid equals the total amount credited to 
the individual account of such judge, with interest at 4 per centum 
per annum to December 31, 1947, and 3 per centum per annum there-
after, compounded on December 31st of each year, to the date of the 
death of such judge, the difference shall be paid, upon establishment 
of a valid claim therefor, in the order of precedence prescribed in sub-
section (i) of this section. 
"(k) Any accrued annuity remaining unpaid upon the termination 
(other than by death) of the annuity of any person based upon the 
service of a judge shall be paid to such person. 
Any accrued annuity 
remaining unpaid upon the death of any person receiving annuity 
based upon the service of a judge shall be paid, upon the establishment 
of a valid claim therefor, in the following order of precedence: 
"First, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the 
estate of such person; 
"Second, if there is no such executor or administrator payment may 
be made, after the expiration of thirty days from the date of the death 
of such person, to such individual or individuals as may appear in the 
judgment of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United 
States Courts to be legally entitled thereto, and such payment shall 
be a bar to recovery by any other individual. 
" (1) Where any payment under this section is to be made to a minor, 
or to a person mentally incompetent or under other legal disability 
adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction, such payment may be 
made to the person who is constituted guardian or other fiduciary 
by the law of the State of residence of such claimant or is otherwise 
legally vested with the care of the claimant or his estate. 
Where no 
guardian or other fiduciary of the person under legal disability hai 
been appointed under the laws of the State of residence of the claim-
ant, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts shall determine the person who is otherwise legally vested 
with the care of the claimant or his estate. 
"(m) Annuities granted under the terms of this section shall accrue 
monthly and shall be due and payable in monthly installments on the 
first business day of the month following the month or other period 
for which the annuity shall have accrued. 
None of the moneys men-
tioned in this section shall be assignable, either in law or in equity, 
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PUBLIC DAW 973-AUG. 3, 1956 
1025 
or subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal 
process. 
"(n) The annuity of the widow of a judge who has elected to bring 
himself within the purview of this section shall be an amount equal 
to the sum of (1) l^^ per centum of the average annual salary re-
ceived by such judge for judicial service and any other prior allowable 
service during the last five years of such service prior to his death, or 
retirement from office by resignation on salary under section 371 (a) 
of this title, multiplied by the sum of his years of judicial service, his 
years of prior allowable service as a Senator, Representative, Delegate, 
or Resident Commissioner in Congress, his years of prior allowable 
service performed as a member of the Armed Forces of the United 
States, and his years, not exceeding fifteen, of prior allowable service 
performed as an employee described in section 698 (g) of title 5, and 
(2) % of 1 per centum of such average annual salary multiplied by 
his years of any other prior allowable service, but such annuity shall 
not exceed 371/^ per centum of such average annual salary and shall 
be further reduced in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, 
if applicable. 
"(o) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the 
years of service of a judge which are allowable as the basis for cal-
culating the amount of the annuity of his widow shall include his 
years of service as a judge of the United States (whether in regular 
active service or retired from such service under section 371 (b) or 
372 (a) of this title), his years of service as a Senator, Representative, 
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner in Congress, his ^ears of active 
service as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States not 
exceeding five years in the aggregate and not including any such 
service for which credit is allowed for the purposes of retirement or 
retired pay under any other provision of law, and his years of any 
other civilian service within the purview of section 707 of title 5. 
"(p) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to pre-
vent a widow eligible therefor from simultaneously receiving an 
annuity under this section and any annuity to which she would other-
wise be entitled'under any other law witnout regard to this section, 
but in computing such other annuity service used in the computation 
of her annuity under this section shall not be credited. 
"(q) The judges of the District Court for the Territory of Alaska, 
the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone, 
the District Court of Guam and the District Court of the Virgin 
Islands and judges of the United States, as defined in section 451 of 
this title, who are entitled to hold office only for a term of yeare shall 
be deemed judges of the United States for the purposes of this section 
and shall be entitled to bring themselves within the purview of this 
section by filing an election as provided in subsection (a) of this 
section within the time therein specified. 
In the case of such judges 
the phrase 'retirement from office by resignation on salary under sec-
tion 371 (a) of this title' as used in subsections (b), (c), (g), (i) and 
(n) of this section shall mean 'retirement from office by resignation 
on salary under section 373 of this title or by removal or failure of 
reappointment after not less than ten years judicial service', and the 
phrase 'resigns from office otherwise than on salary under section 
371 (a) of this title' as used in subsection (f) of this section shall mean 
'resigns from office otherwise than on salary under section 373 of this 
title or is removed or fails of reappointment after less than ten years 
judicial service'." 
Computation of 
annuity. 
68 Stat. 2U 
Receipt of oth«r 
annuities. 
692Z5 O - 57 - 69 (Vol. 70) 
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PUBLIC LiAW 973-AUG. 3, 1956 
[70 ST A T . 
A n n u al 
mates. 
e « t l -
Periodic 
nattona. 
^ p top 
ri 
atio n s. 
53 Stat. 1204. 
Prior de ath of 
Judge. 
Payment o f an-
nuity to widow. 
SEC. 3. Paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of section 604 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
" (7) Regulate and pay annuities to widows and surviving dependent 
children of judges and necessary travel and subsistence expenses 
incurred by judges, court officers and employees, and officers and 
employees of the Administrative Office, while absent from their official 
stations on official business." 
SEC. 4. The first paragraph of section 605 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended to read as follows: 
"The Director, under the supervision of the Judicial Conference 
of the United States, shall submit to the Bureau of the Budget annual 
estimates of the expenditures and appropriations necessary for the 
maintenance and operation of the courts and the Administrative Office 
and the operation of the judicial survivors annuity fund, and such 
supplemental and deficiency estimates as may be required from time 
to time for the same purposes, according to law. 
The Director shall 
cause periodic examinations of the judicial survivors annuity fund 
to be made by an actuary, who may be an actuary employed by another 
department of the Government temporarily assigned for the purpose, 
and whose findings and recommendations shall be transmitted by the 
Director to the Judicial Conference." 
SEC. 5. Funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act 
may be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated. 
SEC. 6. A judge who resigned prior to the date of enactment of this 
Act and who on that date is receiving salary under section 371 (a) 
of title 28, United States Code, or who resigned, was removed or failed 
of reappointment prior to the date of enactment of this Act and who 
on that date is receiving salary under section 373 of title 28, United 
States Code, shall be considered a judge within the meaning of section 
376 of title 28, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, 
and as such shall be entitled within six months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act to make the election authorized by and to receive the 
benefits of that section. 
A judge who retired from regular active 
service under section 260 of the Judicial Code of 1911 or the Act of 
August 5,1939, chapter 433, and who is living on the date of enactment 
of mis Act shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to have retired 
from regular active service under section 371 (b) or 372 (a), as the 
case may be, of title 28, United States Code. 
SEC. 7. In the case of a living widow of a judge of the United States 
as defined in section 451 of title 28, United States Code, who died prior 
to the date of enactment of this Act, an annuity shall be paid as pro-
vided in section 376 of title 28, United States Code, as added by sec-
tion 2 of this Act, as if such judge had died on such date and had elected 
to bring himself within the purview of such section 376, but had not 
made the deposit provided for by subsection (c) of the said section: 
Provided^ (a) That such widow has not remarried; and (b) that the 
amount of such annuity and the reduction therein because of such 
deposit not having been made shall be computed on the basis of the 
actual length of judicial and other allowable service of such judge: 
And provided further^ That notwithstanding the provisions of sub-
section (g) of such section 376 such annuity shall be payable even 
though such judge had not rendered five years of civilian service prior 
to his death. In the case of a judge of the United States as defined in 
section 451 of title 28, United States Code, who dies within 6 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act after having rendered at least 
5 years of civilian service computed as prescribed in subsection (o) of 
section 376 of title 28, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this 
Act, but without having made an election as provided in such section 
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PUBLIC DAW 975-AUG. .3, 1956 
mn 
376 to bring himself within the purview of that section, an annuity 
shall be paid to his widow and surviving dependent children as pro-
vided in such section 376 as if such judge had elected on the day of 
his death to bring himself within the purview^ of such section 376 but 
had not made the deposit provided for by subsection (c) of the said 
section. 
An annuity shall be payable under this section computed on 
the basis of the actual length of judicial and other allowable service of 
the judge and subject to the reduction required by subsection (c) of 
such section 376 even though no deposit has been made, as required by 
subsection (g) of such section 376, with respect to any of such service. 
Approved August 3, 1956. 
Public Law 974 
CHAPTER 945 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
To suspend the application of certain Federal laws with respect to personnel 
employed by the House Committee on Ways and Means in connection with the 
investigations ordered by H. Res. 331 and H. Res. 606, Eighty-fourth Congress. 
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Rem'emntatives 
of the JJrated 
States of AmeHca in Congress assembled^ That service or employ-
ment of any person not presently employed by the Federal Govern-
ment as an attorney, accountant, expert, or professional staff member 
in assisting the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Repre-
sentatives, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, in the inves-
tigations authorized by H. Res, 331 and H. Res. 606, Eighty-fourth 
Congress, shall not be considered as service or employment bringing 
such person within the provisions of section 281, 283, or 28i of title 18 
of the United States Code, or of any other Federal law imposing re-
strictions, requirements, or penalties in relation to the employment 
of persons, the performance of services, or the payment or receipt of 
compensation in connection with any claim, proceeding, or matter 
involving the United States. 
Approved August 8, 1956. 
August 3, 1956 
[H. J. Re*. 695] 
House Committee 
on Way 8 and Me an IS. 
E m p 1 o ytnent o f 
certain personnel. 
62 Stat. 697. 
Public Law 975 
CHAPTER 946 
AN ACT 
To provide for the burial in the Memorial Amphitheater of the National Cemetery 
at Arlington, Virginia, of the remains of an unknown American who lost his 
life while serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States during 
the Korean conflict. 
Augusta, 1956 
[H. R. 8 1571 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assetnbled, That the Secretary c,^^'otK^t,m°w^ 
of Defense is authorized and directed (1) to cause to be brought to the tucu 
United States the remains of an American who lost his life while serv- 
^^^^' 
ing overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States during the 
Korean conflict and whose identity has not been established, and (2) 
to provide for the burial, with appropriate ceremonies, on Memorial 
Day, May 30, 1958, of such unknown American in conjunction with 
the burial of the unknown American of the Second World War, as 
authorized by the Act of June 24, 1946 (Public Law 429, Seventy-
ninth Congress), in the Memorial Amphitheater of the National Cem-
etery at Arlington, Virginia, near or beside the remains of the Un-
known American Soldier of the First World War. 
SEC. 2. There is authorized to be appropriated such sum as may be 
Appropriation, 
necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. 
Approved August 3, 1956. 
60 Stat. 302.