296
PUBLIC LAW 147-JULY 12, 1955
Designation of beneficiary.
Effective datea
Repeal s«
STA T,
)rior to his death, in the place designated for such purpose in the reguations of the Department concerned; Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow or widower of such member; Third, if there be no beneficiary or surviving spouse, to the child or children of such member, and descendants of deceased children, by representation; Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of the member, or the survivor of them; and Fifth, if there be none of the above, to the duly appointed legal representative of the estate of the deceased member, or if there be none, to the person or persons determined to be entitled thereto under the laws of the domicile of the deceased member. SEC. 3. Subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States, amounts payable to beneficiaries designated by the member under section 2 of this Act shall be paid by the Department or uniformed service concerned. All other payments under this Act shall be paid upon settlement by the General Accounting Office. Any payment made under this Act shall be a bar to recovery by any other person of any amount so paid. SEC. 4. Designations of beneficiary under this Act, and changes therein, shall be made under regulations promulgated by the Secretaries concerned, and such regulations shall be uniform for all services in so far as practicable: Provided, That any designation of beneficiary made for the purposes of any six months' death gratuity (including any designation of a person whose right to the gratuity would not depend upon such designation) and heretofore or hereafter received in the Department concerned before the effective date of the payment provisions of this Act shall be considered as a designation of beneficiary for the purposes of this Act, in the absence of a designation of beneficiary under this Act, unless the member making the designation shall have been missing, missing in action, in the hands of a hostile force, or interned in a foreign country during any part of the period between the date of enactment of this Act and the effective date thereof as prescribed in section 5 of this Act. SEC. 5. The payment provisions of this Act shall be effective only in cases wherein the member's death occurs on or after the first day of the sixth month following the month in which this Act is enacted. The following statutory provisions are repealed as of the effective date of the payment provisions of this Act, except with respect to the deaths of members occurring prior to such effective date: (1) The paragraph of the Act of June 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 750), which relates to the settlement of accounts of deceased officers and enlisted men of the Army, as amended by the Act of December 7, 1944 (68 Stat. 795), and section 4 of the Act of February 25, 1946 (60 Stat. 30, l O U.S.C. 868). (2) Section 1 of the Act of February 26, 1946 (60 Stat. 30), as amended by section 18 of the Act of August 4, 1949 (63 Stat. 560, 3 4 U.S.C. 941a). (3) The paragraph in section 1 of the Act of August 4, 1949 (63 Stat. 631), which relates to the settlement of accounts of deceased officers and enlisted persons of the Coast Guard (14 U.S.C. 466). (4) Section 507 of the Public Health Service Act, approved July 1, 1944 (58 Stat. 711), as amended by section 2 of the Act of February 25, 1946 (60 Stat. 30,42 U.S.C. 225). Approved July 12, 1955.
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Payments*
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