I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 463 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. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 10, 2019 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 for- giveness of certain overpayments of retired pay paid to deceased retired members of the Armed Forces. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Retiree Sur- 4 vivor Comfort Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 463 IH SEC. 2. FORGIVENESS OF CERTAIN OVERPAYMENTS OF RE- 1 TIRED PAY PAID FOR PERIODS AFTER DEATH 2 OF RETIRED MEMBERS. 3 (a) FORGIVENESS WHEN PAYMENTS DEPOSITED TO 4 JOINT ACCOUNTS.—Section 2771 of title 10, United 5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing new subsection: 7 ‘‘(e) The United States shall forgive any overpayment 8 of retired or retainer pay arising from payment of such 9 retired or retainer pay for any period after the date of 10 the death of the recipient through the last day of the 11 month in which such death occurs if such payment is elec- 12 tronically deposited in an accredited financial institution 13 to a joint account bearing the name of the decedent and 14 another individual who is the decedent’s designated bene- 15 ficiary under subsection (a)(1).’’. 16 (b) COORDINATION WITH SURVIVOR BENEFIT 17 PLAN.—Section 1450 of title 10, United States Code, is 18 amended— 19 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or that ap- 20 plies under subsection (n)’’ after ‘‘under subsection 21 (j)’’; and 22 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 23 section: 24 ‘‘(n) SPECIAL EFFECTIVE DATE RULE WHEN FINAL 25 RETIRED PAY OVERPAYMENT IS FORGIVEN.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 463 IH ‘‘(1) ANNUITY EFFECTIVE ON FIRST DAY OF 1 MONTH AFTER DEATH.—In a case covered by para- 2 graph (2), an annuity payable to a surviving spouse 3 shall be effective on the first day of the first month 4 beginning after the death of the person to whom sec- 5 tion 1448 of this title applies, rather than on the 6 date otherwise applicable under subsection (a). 7 ‘‘(2) COVERED CASES.—Paragraph (1) applies 8 in a case in which— 9 ‘‘(A) there is an overpayment of retired 10 pay of a person to whom section 1448 of this 11 title applies that is forgiven pursuant to section 12 2771(e) of this title; and 13 ‘‘(B) the person who is the designated ben- 14 eficiary of such person under section 15 2771(a)(1) of this title is the surviving spouse 16 of such person.’’. 17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (e) of section 18 2771 of title 10, United States Code, as added by sub- 19 section (a), shall apply with respect to payments made to 20 persons who die on or after the date of the enactment of 21 this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS