When a retiree dies: what stops, what continues, and what must be claimed

This page is for the person handling a death with no prior knowledge of the systems. It is also a planning page for the retiree and spouse: designations, records, and account structure decided now determine how difficult the first weeks will be.

Survivor action center

What to do, and when

Use this as a routing guide, not a determination of eligibility. Open each period for the actions, forms, and deadline reason.

1. 1Now / first 24 hoursStop additional retired-pay deposits and preserve cash the household may need immediately.

   • Report the death to DFAS. Do not assume a funeral home or another federal agency has done it.
   • Do not spend a retired-pay deposit issued after death. DFAS normally reclaims the full post-death payment.
   • Obtain certified death certificates and secure the retiree account statement, DD Form 214 or retirement orders, SBP election, insurance policies, and marriage or birth records.

   Official links: DFAS: report a retiree death

2. 2First weekStopping retired pay does not start Arrears of Pay, SBP, insurance, or healthcare survivor processing.

   • File SF 1174 for Arrears of Pay when DFAS provides the claim route.
   • File DD Form 2656-7 for an SBP annuity if coverage was elected.
   • Contact DEERS and TRICARE to confirm each survivor's current eligibility and enrollment.
   • File life-insurance claims directly with the applicable insurer.

   Official links: DFAS: Arrears of Pay · DFAS: SBP forms and process · TRICARE: loss of eligibility

3. 3First monthVA, Social Security, DFAS, and insurance are separate systems with separate claims.

   • Use VA Form 21P-534EZ to claim DIC, Survivors Pension, and any applicable accrued benefits.
   • Contact Social Security; survivor claims generally cannot be completed entirely online.
   • Keep funeral, burial, transportation, and cemetery receipts for a possible VA burial allowance.
   • Ask an accredited VSO, Retirement Services Officer, or Casualty Assistance Officer to review the package before filing.

   Official links: VA Form 21P-534EZ · Social Security survivor benefits

4. 4By one yearFor many post-service deaths, VA must receive the DIC claim within one year to preserve a potential effective date tied to the month of death.

   • Confirm that VA received the survivor claim and retain the confirmation.
   • If evidence is still being gathered, get accredited help rather than assuming a late claim will be paid back to the death date.

   Deadline note: Do not treat the one-year date as a target. File a substantially complete claim as early as practical.

   Official links: VA: disability and DIC effective dates

5. 5By two yearsA non-service-connected burial allowance generally must be claimed within two years after burial or cremation, although some plot, transportation, and VA-care situations have different rules.

   • Use VA Form 21P-530EZ and attach the evidence VA requests.
   • Check the current exception rules instead of assuming every burial expense shares one deadline.

   Deadline note: Service-connected burial and transportation claims do not use this same two-year limit.

   Official links: VA: burial allowance eligibility and deadlines

Never send Social Security numbers, claim numbers, diagnoses, bank details, or death certificates through this website's feedback form.

The retired-pay sequence

Military retired pay is generally paid in arrears. A payment issued on September 1 normally represents August entitlement; it is not an advance payment for September. DFAS explains the death-reporting and payment-recovery process.

When DFAS learns of the death, it stops monthly retired pay. A retired-pay payment issued after the date of death is reclaimed in full. After required post-death payments have been returned, DFAS calculates the retiree’s final prorated entitlement through the date of death and pays that amount through the separate Arrears of Pay process. DFAS describes Arrears of Pay and SF 1174.

Corrected example: death on September 9

Assume a retiree receives the normal September 1 deposit and dies on September 9.

1. The September 1 deposit normally represents August retired pay. It is not, merely because of its date, an overpayment for September 10–30.
2. If another monthly payment is issued after death, DFAS generally reclaims that entire post-death payment.
3. DFAS separately calculates the final entitlement for September 1 through the date of death.
4. The claimant files SF 1174 with the evidence DFAS requests. DFAS then pays the final amount to the designated Arrears of Pay beneficiary or under the statutory order of precedence if there is no valid designation.

Do not estimate the household’s reclaim or final entitlement by dividing one bank deposit into “earned” and “unearned” days. The deposit period, issue date, deductions, returned payments, and beneficiary record all matter, and DFAS performs the official accounting.

Given

• September 1 paymentNormally the August entitlement
• Date of deathSeptember 9
• Possible later paymentOctober 1, issued after death

Working

1. Classify the September 1 payment

   Check the entitlement month on the DFAS pay schedule and account statementNormally valid August retired pay

2. Report the death

   Use askDFAS or call DFAS promptlyFuture monthly retired pay is stopped

3. Handle a payment issued after death

   Leave the account funded and follow the DFAS/bank reclaim instructionsThe full post-death payment is returned

4. Claim the final entitlement

   Submit witnessed SF 1174 and the requested evidenceDFAS calculates and pays the final prorated AOP

The survivor does not invent a partial refund. DFAS identifies the covered payment, reclaims any payment issued after death, and separately calculates Arrears of Pay.

This figure does not account fora weekend or holiday that changes the deposit date, an account already under audit, returned payments, multiple beneficiaries, missing designation, offsets, deductions, or a payment whose entitlement month differs from the normal schedule.

What continues only after a claim

Arrears of Pay

Arrears of Pay is the retiree’s final unpaid entitlement. It is not SBP, life insurance, or an inheritance distributed by the will. A retiree can designate an Arrears of Pay beneficiary; otherwise federal law supplies an order of precedence. DFAS explains the beneficiary and claim process.

Survivor Benefit Plan

If the retiree elected eligible SBP coverage, the survivor must apply for the annuity, normally using DD Form 2656-7. Reporting the death does not itself complete the SBP claim. Coverage category, election history, marriage and child facts, remarriage, and supporting records can change the outcome. DFAS publishes the SBP application route.

Since January 1, 2023, the former SBP-DIC offset has been eliminated: an eligible survivor may receive the full SBP annuity and full DIC. The temporary Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance ended with that phaseout and is no longer paid. DFAS explains the completed offset phaseout.

SBP is generally federally taxable; DIC is not. Do not combine the two into one “tax-free survivor income” figure.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation

DIC is a tax-free VA benefit for qualifying survivors. It is not limited to a death that occurs while serving: a post-service death may qualify because of a service-connected cause or certain qualifying periods of total disability. Use VA Form 21P-534EZ for DIC, Survivors Pension, and applicable accrued-benefit claims, and have an accredited representative check which lanes the evidence supports. VA publishes DIC eligibility and application information.

For many post-service deaths, if VA receives the claim within one year, the effective date may be the first day of the month in which the veteran died. If VA receives it more than one year later, the effective date is generally the date VA receives the claim. The effective date and the date the first payment is released are different concepts. VA states the survivor-claim effective-date rule.

Social Security survivor benefits

Social Security survivor benefits use the deceased worker’s record and the survivor’s age, relationship, disability, caregiving, work, and own-benefit facts. A surviving spouse does not simply inherit the deceased person’s full deposit in addition to their own. Contact Social Security promptly because the filing and retroactivity rules depend on the benefit and facts. SSA provides the survivor-benefit application route.

Healthcare

A survivor’s healthcare does not continue merely because the deceased retiree had coverage. DEERS must be updated, and TRICARE eligibility and enrollment depend on the survivor category, plan, Medicare status, age, and remarriage facts. Do not cancel other coverage until the survivor’s new status and effective dates are confirmed. TRICARE explains eligibility changes after loss of a sponsor.

Burial and memorial benefits

Potential benefits include national-cemetery burial, a government headstone or marker, a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate, military funeral honors, and a VA burial allowance. Eligibility and application routes differ; a funeral home can coordinate honors, but the survivor should retain the records and confirm what was actually filed.

A claim for a non-service-connected burial allowance generally must be filed within two years after burial or cremation. That two-year limit does not apply in the same way to service-connected burial, a non-service-connected death while under qualifying VA care, plot or interment allowance, or qualifying transportation claims. VA also says it may automatically pay a set amount to an eligible surviving spouse already listed as the spouse in the veteran’s VA profile. Confirm whether that payment occurred; if a claim is still required, use VA Form 21P-530EZ and check the rule for each requested expense. VA lists the current burial-allowance deadlines, exceptions, and spouse process.

Records the family will need

The exact evidence varies by benefit. A practical packet includes:

• certified death certificate copies in the number the agencies and institutions actually request;
• retiree account statement and recent bank deposit history;
• DD Form 214, retirement orders, and other service records applicable to the claim;
• SBP election and beneficiary records;
• marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, and dependency records relevant to each claimant;
• life-insurance policies and beneficiary confirmations;
• funeral, burial, cemetery, and transportation contracts and receipts;
• VA rating decisions and medical or service evidence relevant to a possible DIC theory;
• a contact log showing agency, date, confirmation number, documents sent, and next action.

A DD Form 214 is commonly requested and valuable, but not every retiree or every claim is documented by one DD Form 214. Reserve-component, multiple-period, and retirement-order records may also be needed. Preserve the complete service-record packet rather than telling the family that one document unlocks every benefit.

Planning before death

The retiree and spouse should review these items at least annually and after marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, disability, retirement, or a major account change:

• Arrears of Pay beneficiary;
• SBP election and covered category;
• SGLI, VGLI, FEGLI, private insurance, TSP, IRA, employer-plan, bank, and brokerage beneficiaries;
• payable-on-death and transfer-on-death designations;
• will, trust, powers of attorney, and advance directives with a qualified state-law professional;
• DEERS family record and contact information;
• official account access and a secure inventory of where records are held;
• a first-month cash reserve in an account the survivor can legally access while claims are pending.

A beneficiary designation can control an asset outside the will. Review the actual designation held by each institution; a note in an estate binder does not change it.

Free help

A Retirement Services Officer or Casualty Assistance Officer can route DFAS and survivor actions. A VA-accredited VSO, claims agent, or attorney can review DIC, pension, accrued-benefit, and burial claims. Social Security and TRICARE should be contacted directly for their determinations. These channels do not turn one claim into another; they help the survivor keep the separate processes synchronized.

If a deadline is close, file through an official channel and preserve proof of receipt. Do not wait for an estate matter, another agency, or this website’s feedback process to resolve first.