Designation of Beneficiaries and Record of Emergency Data

Revisions: Form PPC-2020D, Designation of Beneficiaries and Record of Emergency Data (July 2008), has been revised. In the October 2008 revision we completely removed the original Death Gratuity beneficiary section, leaving only the new Beneficiary to Receive a Portion of Death Gratuity section. We also added a form letter for commands to use to notify the spouse of a marred member in the event the member designates someone (other than their spouse) to receive a portion or all of the Death Gratuity. The letter will print as page 6 of the form. It will be removed from the form when it is published in the next change to the Personnel and Pay Procedures Manual. In the November 2008 edition of the form we revised the format for entering names. All names should now be entered as "last name, first name, middle initial".

Q & A:

  1. Q. With the adding of emergency contacts to the CG PPC-2020D are we doing away with verification of the emergency contact sheet and or including it in the PDR?

    A. No. We would like to continue the use of Direct Access to record emergency contacts in addition to the form. Per ALCOAST 427/08 (para 4.f), the software will be modified to add the new PADD designation. After the software is changed, we can look at removing the duplicate fields from the form or reorganizing it so the DA printout will actually print the form.

  2. Q. There have been many changes, clarifications, and form revisions, do you expect all members to complete a new form every time there's a change?

    A. No. A member's elections/designations, made on previous editions of CG Form PPC-2020D, remain valid and will be honored until the member executes a new CG Form PPC-2020D. The phrase "PREVIOUS EDITION IS OBSOLETE", which appears at the bottom of the form on page 1, means "do not use an older edition of the form from this point forward".

  3. Q. The last page of the form is a letter. What are we supposed to do with it?

    A. The letter is a template you can use to comply with the requirement to notify a married member's spouse if the member designated a beneficiary to receive a portion or of all of the death gratuity. This letter isn't required for single members or members who choose not to complete the optional election. Here's a version of file without the letter, use it if you want to save a little paper. The letter template will be removed from the form when we publish the next change to the Personnel and Pay Procedures Manual.

  4. Q: Does the form have to be witnesses when the person signs the form?

    A: Yes. (To meet the definition of "witness")

  5. Q: Does not following the format for dates invalidate the form requiring the member to do a new one?

    A. No. The YYYYMMMDD is preferred because there's little room for misinterpretation, unlike the dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy format.

New Policy for Death Gratuity Beneficiary Designations

Please note, per P.L 110-181, the option to designate a beneficiary or a contingent beneficiary to receive the death gratuity no longer exists. Under the new law, a person you name to receive a portion or all of the death gratuity has precedence over your spouse, children, etc. If you do not wish to designate a beneficiary, enter "None." in block 11a. Undesignated portions will be paid by law according to the default precedence list. Which is:

  1. To the surviving spouse of the member, if any (does not include an ex-spouse);
  2. To any surviving "children" of the person and the descendants of any deceased children by representation;
  3. To the surviving "parents" or the survivor of them;
  4. To the duly-appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the person;
  5. If none of the above, then to other next-of-kin of the person under the laws of domicile of the person at the time of the person's death.

On July 1, 2008, a new death gratuity beneficiary policy became effective (Public Law 110-181 (PL-110-181), section 645) that allows service members to designate up to 100 percent of their death gratuity to a person of the service member's choice.

The balance of the death gratuity is paid to the service member's living survivors.

Prior to the enactment of PL-110-28 in May 2007, the entire death gratuity was paid to the spouse and children, or, if there were none, to other family members as elected by the member ( i.e., parents, brothers, sisters etc.). On May 25, 2007, a new death gratuity beneficiary policy became effective (Public Law 110-28 (PL-110-28), section 3306) that allowed service members to designate up to 50 percent of their death gratuity to a person of the service member's choice. Now, per PL-110-181, a member can designate up to 100 percent (in increments of 10 percent) to a person of their choice. An unmarried service member, for example, may now designate a person of his/her choice to receive a portion of the gratuity. The member may also designate as beneficiary a parent or another person that he/she elects as guardian over the minor children.

Because of the new designated beneficiary policy, PPC Form 2020D (November 2008), Designation of Beneficiaries and Record of Emergency Data, has been expanded to include a new Beneficiary to Receive a Portion of Death Gratuity section where the service member enters beneficiary data, including the percentage (up to 100 percent) of the death gratuity. Form PPC-2020D (November 2008) has been significantly revised to mirror DD Form 93 (Jan 2008), Record of Emergency Data, which is used by all other branches of service.

Service Members Designation of a Person Authorized to Direct Disposition of Remains (PADD)

In most cases, when a member dies, it is clear who should be the Person Authorized to Direct Disposition of remains (PADD). For a married member it is usually the spouse. For a single member it is usually a parent. Occasionally there are situations where the identity of the PADD is unclear, ambiguous, or contentious. There have been cases in other services where two potential PADDs with sharply differing ideas have gone to court to be designated as the sole PADD.

Per ALCOAST 427/08 a PADD designation is required of each current member no later than 1 December 2008. Each new member must designate a PADD upon enlistment or commissioning. A new PADD designation is not required when changing status between active duty and reserve.

A member may designate one of the following to be PADD:

If none are known or alive then any relative may be designated, or, finally, a close friend.

Form PPC-2020D (November 2008), Designation of Beneficiaries and Record of Emergency Data

Last Modified 3/9/2009