
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC1477]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle A--General Military Law
 
                           PART II--PERSONNEL
 
                     CHAPTER 75--DECEASED PERSONNEL
 
                      SUBCHAPTER II--DEATH BENEFITS
 
Sec. 1477. Death gratuity: eligible survivors

    (a) A death gratuity payable upon the death of a person covered by 
section 1475 or 1476 of this title shall be paid to or for the living 
survivor highest on the following list:
        (1) His surviving spouse.
        (2) His children, as prescribed by subsection (b), in equal 
    shares.
        (3) If designated by him, any one or more of the following 
    persons:
            (A) His parents or persons in loco parentis, as prescribed 
        by subsection (c).
            (B) His brothers.
            (C) His sisters.

        (4) His parents or persons in loco parentis, as prescribed by 
    subsection (c), in equal shares.
        (5) His brothers and sisters in equal shares.

Clauses (3) and (5) of this subsection include brothers and sisters of 
the half blood and those through adoption.
    (b) Subsection (a)(2) applies, without regard to age or marital 
status, to--
        (1) legitimate children;
        (2) adopted children;
        (3) stepchildren who were a part of the decedent's household at 
    the time of his death;
        (4) illegitimate children of a female decedent; and
        (5) illegitimate children of a male decedent--
            (A) who have been acknowledged in writing signed by the 
        decedent;
            (B) who have been judicially determined, before the 
        decedent's death, to be his children;
            (C) who have been otherwise proved, by evidence satisfactory 
        to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to be children of the 
        decedent; or
            (D) to whose support the decedent had been judicially 
        ordered to contribute.

    (c) Clauses (3) and (4) of subsection (a), so far as they apply to 
parents and persons in loco parentis, include fathers and mothers 
through adoption, and persons who stood in loco parentis to the decedent 
for a period of not less than one year at any time before he acquired a 
status described in section 1475 or 1476 of this title. However, only 
one father and one mother, or their counterparts in loco parentis, may 
be recognized in any case, and preference shall be given to those who 
exercised a parental relationship on the date, or most nearly before the 
date, on which the decedent entered that status.
    (d) If an eligible survivor dies before he receives the death 
gratuity, it shall be paid to the living survivor next in the order 
prescribed by subsection (a).

(Added Pub. L. 85-861, Sec. 1(32)(A), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1453; 
amended Pub. L. 101-189, div. A, title XVI, Sec. 1621(a)(2), Nov. 29, 
1989, 103 Stat. 1603.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
            Revised section                      Source (U.S. Code)            
   Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
1477(a)...............................  38:1131(c) (less words in            Au
g. 1, 1956, ch. 837, Secs.
                                         parentheses in clause (2)).          1
02(7) (as applicable to death
                                        38:1134(d).                           g
ratuity), 301(c), (d), 304(d), 70
                                        38:1101(7) (as applicable to          S
tat. 860, 868, 869.
1477(b)...............................   children and as applicable to
                                         death gratuity).
                                        38:1131(c) (words in parentheses in
                                         clause (2)).
1477(c)...............................  38:1101(7) (less applicability to
                                         children, as applicable to death
                                         gratuity).
1477(d)...............................  38:1131(d).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    In subsection (a), the words ``highest on the following list'' are 
substituted for the words ``first listed below'', in 38:1131(c). The 
words ``as prescribed by subsection (b)'' are inserted in clause (2) to 
reflect that subsection. The words ``or persons in loco parentis, as 
prescribed by subsection (c)'' are inserted in clauses (3) (A) and (4) 
to reflect the fact that certain persons who are not parents in the 
normal sense are included as eligible survivors.
    In subsection (d), the words ``the death gratuity'' are substituted 
for the words ``the amount to which he is entitled under this 
subchapter''. The words ``next in the order prescribed'' are substituted 
for the words ``first listed under''.


                               Amendments

    1989--Subsec. (b)(5)(C). Pub. L. 101-189 substituted ``Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs'' for ``Administrator of Veterans' Affairs''.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1475, 1476, 1478, 1480 of 
this title.
