Pub. L. 89-554, tit. 5, pt. III, subpt. G, ch. 89, sec. 5

Sec. 5. (a) The chapter analysis of title 37, United States Code, is amended by inserting after item 9: “Payments to Missing persons 531” (b) Title 37, United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 9: “Sec. “551. Definitions. “552. Pay and allowances; continuance while in a missing status; limitations. “553. Allotments; continuance, suspension, initiation, resumption, or increase while in a missing status; limitations. “554. Travel and transportation; dependents; household and personal effects; motor vehicles; sale of bulky items; claims for proceeds; appropriation chargeable. “555. Secretarial review. “556. Secretarial determinations. “557. Settlement of accounts. “558. Income tax deferment. “§ 551. Definitions “In this chapter— “(1) ‘dependent’, with respect to a member of a uniformed service, means— “(A) his wife; “(B) his unmarried child (including an unmarried dependent stepchild or adopted child) under 21 years of age; “(C) his dependent mother or father; “(D) a dependent designated in official records; and “(E) a person determined to be dependent by the Secretary concerned, or his designee; “(2) ‘missing status’ means the status of a member of a uniformed service who is officially carried or determined to be absent in a status of— “(A) missing; “(B) missing in action; “(C) interned in a foreign country; “(D) captured, beleaguered, or besieged by a hostile force; or “(E) detained in a foreign country against his will; and “(3) ‘pay and allowances means— “(A) basic pay; “(B) special pay; “(C) incentive pay; “(D) basic allowance for quarters; “(E) basic allowance for subsistence; and “(F) station per diem allowances for not more than 90 days. “CHAPTER 10—PAYMENTS TO MISSING PERSONS “§ 552. Pay and allowances; continuance while in a missing status; limitations “(a) A member of a uniformed service who is on active duty or performing inactive-duty training, and who is in a missing status, is, for the period he is in that status, entitled to receive or have credited to his account the same pay and allowances, as defined in this chapter, to which he was entitled at the beginning of that period or may there-80 Stat. 626after become entitled. However, a member who is performing full-time training duty or other full-time duty without pay, or inactive-duty training with or without pay, is entitled to the pay and allowances to which he would have been entitled if he had been on active duty with pay. “(b) The expiration of a member’s term of service while he is in a missing status does not end his entitlement to pay and allowances under subsection (a) of this section. Notwithstanding the death of a member while in a missing status, entitlement to pay and allowances under subsection (a) of this section ends on the date— “(1) the Secretary concerned receives evidence that the member is dead; or “(2) that his death is prescribed or determined under section 555 of this title. “(c) A member is not entitled to pay and allowances under subsection (a) of this section for a period during which he is officially determined to be absent from his post of duty without authority, and he is indebted to the United States for payments from amounts credited to his account for that period. “(d) A member who is performing full-time training duty or inactive-duty training is entitled to the benefits of this section only when he is officially determined to be in a missing status that results from the performance of duties prescribed by competent authority. “(e) A member in a missing status who is continued in that status under section 555 of this title is entitled to be credited with pay and allowances under subsection (a) of this section. “§ 553. Allotments; continuance, suspension, initiation, resumption, or increase while in a missing status; limitations “(a) Notwithstanding the end of the period for which it was made, an allotment, including one for the purchase of United States savings bonds, made by a member of a uniformed service before he was in a missing status may be continued for the period he is entitled to pay and allowances under section 552 of this title. “(b) When there is no allotment in effect, or when it is insufficient for a purpose authorized by the Secretary concerned, he, or his designee, may authorize new allotments or increases in allotments that are warranted by the circumstances and payable for the period the member is entitled to pay and allowances under section 552 or this title. “(c) The total of all allotments from the pay and allowances of a member in a missing status may not be more than the amount of pay and allowances he is permitted to allot under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned. “(d) A premium paid by the United States on insurance issued on the life of a member which is unearned because it covers a period after his death reverts to the appropriation of the department concerned. “(e) Subject to subsections (f) and (g) of this section, the Secretary concerned, or his designee, may, when he considers it in the interest of the member, his dependents, or the United States, direct the initiation, continuance, discontinuance, increase, decrease, suspension, or resumption of payments of allotments from the pay and allowances of a member entitled to pay and allowances under section 552 of this title. “(f) When the Secretary concerned officially reports that a member in a missing status is alive, the payments of allotments authorized by subsections (a)–(d) of this section may, subject to section 552 of this title, be made until the date the Secretary concerned receives evi-80 Stat. 627dence that the member is dead or has returned to the controllable jurisdiction of the department concerned. “(g) A member in a missing status who is continued in that status under section 555 of this title is entitled to have the payments of allotments authorized by subsections (a)-(d) of this section continued, increased, or initiated. “(h) When the Secretary concerned considers it essential for the well-being and protection of the dependents of a member on active duty (other than a member entitled to pay and allowances under section 552 of this title), he may, with or without the consent, and subject to termination at the request, of the member— “(1) direct the payment of a new allotment from the pay of the member; “(2) increase or decrease the amount of an allotment made by the member; and “(3) continue payment of an allotment of the member which has expired. “§ 554. Travel and transportation; dependents; household and personal effects; motor vehicles; sale of bulky items; claims for proceeds; appropriation chargeable “(a) In this section, ‘household and personal effects’ and ‘household effects’ may include, in addition to other authorized weight allowances, one privately owned motor vehicle which may be shipped at United States expense when it is located outside the United States, or in Alaska or Hawaii. “(b) Transportation (including packing, crating, drayage, temporary storage, and unpacking of household and personal effects) may be provided for the dependents and household and personal effects of a member of a uniformed service on active duty (without regard to pay grade) who is officially reported as dead, injured, or absent for a period of more than 29 days in a missing status— “(1) to the member’s official residence of record; “(2) to the residence of his dependent, next of kin, or other person entitled to custody of the effects, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned; or “(3) on request of the member (if injured), or his dependent, next of kin, or other person described m clause (2), to another location determined in advance or later approved by the Secretary concerned, or his designee. “(c) When a member described in subsection (b) of this section is in an injured status, transportation of dependents and household and personal effects authorized by this section may be provided only when prolonged hospitalization or treatment is anticipated. “(d) Transportation requested by a dependent may be authorized under this section only if there is a reasonable relationship between the circumstances of the dependent and the requested destination. “(e) In place of the transportation for dependents authorized by this section, and after the travel is completed, the Secretary concerned may authorize— “(1) reimbursement for the commercial cost of the transportation; or 80 Stat. 628 “(2) a monetary allowance at the prescribed rate for all, or that part, of the travel for which transportation in kind is not furnished. “(f) The Secretary concerned may store the household and personal effects of a member described in subsection (b) of this section until proper disposition can be made. The cost of the storage and transportation (including packing, crating, drayage, temporary storage, and unpacking) of household and personal effects shall be charged against appropriations currently available. “(g) The Secretary concerned may, when he determines that there is an emergency and a sale would be in the best interests of the United States, provide for the public or private sale of motor vehicles and other bulky items of household and personal effects of a member described in subsection (b) of this section. Before a sale, and if practicable, a reasonable effort shall be made to determine the desires of the interested persons. The net proceeds received from the sale shall, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, be sent to the owner or other persons. If there are no such persons, or if they or their addresses are not known within one year from the date of sale, the net proceeds may be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. “(h) Claims for net proceeds that are covered into the Treasury under subsection (g) of this section may be filed with the General Accounting Office by the rightful owners, their heirs or next of kin, or their legal representatives at any time before the end of a 5-year period from the date the proceeds are covered into the Treasury. When a claim is filed, the General Accounting Office shall allow or disallow it. A claim that is allowed shall be paid from the appropriation for refunding money erroneously received and covered. If a claim is not filed before the end of the 5-year period from the date the proceeds are covered into the Treasury it is barred from being acted on by the courts or the General Accounting Office. “(i) This section does not amend or repeal— “(1) section 2575, 2733, 4712, 4713, 6522, 9712, or 9713 of title 10; “(2) section 507 of title 14; or “(3) chapter 171 of title 28. “§ 555. Secretarial review “(a) When a member of a uniformed service entitled to pay and allowances under section 552 of this title has been in a missing status, and the official report of his death or of the circumstances of his absence has not been received by the Secretary concerned, he shall, before the end of a 12-month period in that status, have the case fully reviewed. After that review and the end of the 12-month period in a missing status, or after a later review which shall be made when warranted by information received or other circumstances, the Secretary concerned, or his designee, may— “(1) if the member can reasonably be presumed to be living, direct a continuance of his missing status; or “(2) make a finding of death. “(b) When a finding of death is made under subsection (a) of this section, it shall include the date death is presumed to have occurred for the purpose of— “(1) ending the crediting of pay and allowances; 80 Stat. 629 “(2) settlement of accounts; and “(3) payment of death gratuities. That date is— “(A) the day after the day on which the 12-month period in a missing status ends; or “(B) if the missing status has been continued under subsection (a) of this section, the day determined by the Secretary concerned, or his designee. “(c) For the sole purpose of determining status under this section, a dependent of a member on active duty is treated as if he were a member. Any determination made by the Secretary concerned, or his designee, under this section is conclusive on all other departments and agencies of the United States. This subsection does not entitle a dependent to pay, allowances, or other compensation to which he is not otherwise entitled. “§ 556. Secretarial determinations “(a) The Secretary concerned, or his designee, may make any determination necessary to administer this chapter and, when so made, it is conclusive as to— “(1) death or finding of death; “(2) the fact of dependency under this chapter; “(3) the fact of dependency for the purpose of paying six months’ death gratuities authorized by law; “(4) the fact of dependency under any other law authorizing the payment of pay, allowances, or other emoluments to enlisted members of the armed forces, when the payments are contingent on dependency; “(5) any other status covered by this chapter; “(6) an essential date, including one on which evidence or information is received by the Secretary concerned; and “(7) whether information received concerning a member of a uniformed service is to be construed and acted on as an official report of death. “(b) When the Secretary concerned receives information that he considers establishes conclusively the death of a member of a uniformed service, he shall, notwithstanding any earlier action relating to death or other status of the member, act on it as an official report of death. After the end of the 12-month period in a missing status prescribed by section 555 of this title, the Secretary concerned, or his designee, shall, when he considers that the information received, or a lapse of time without information, establishes a reasonable presumption that a member in a missing status is dead, make a finding of death. “(c) The Secretary concerned, or his designee, may determine the entitlement of a member to pay and allowances under this chapter, including credits and charges in his account, and that determination is conclusive. An account may not be charged or debited with an amount that a member captured, beleaguered, or besieged by a hostile force may receive or be entitled to receive from, or have placed to his credit by, the hostile force as pay, allowances, or other compensation. 80 Stat. 630 “(d) The Secretary concerned, or his designee, may, when warranted by the circumstances, reconsider a determination made under this chapter, and change or modify it. “(e) When the account of a member has been charged or debited with an allotment paid under this chapter, the amount so charged or debited shall be recredited to the account of the member if the Secretary concerned, or his designee, determines that the payment was induced by fraud or misrepresentation to which the member was not a party. “(f) Except an allotment for an unearned insurance premium, an allotment paid from pay and allowances of a member for the period he is entitled to pay and allowances under section 552 of this title may not be collected from the allottee as an overpayment when it was caused by delay in receiving evidence of death. An allotment payment for a period after the end of entitlement to pay and allowances under this chapter, or otherwise, which was caused by delay in receiving evidence of death, may not be collected from the allottee or charged against the pay of the deceased member. “(g) The Secretary concerned, or his designee, may waive the recovery of an erroneous payment or overpayment of an allotment to a dependent if he considers recovery is against equity and good conscience. “(h) For the sole purpose of determining status under this section, a dependent of a member of a uniformed service on active duty is treated as if he were a member. Any determination made by the Secretary concerned, or his designee, under this section is conclusive on all other departments and agencies of the United States. This subsection does not entitle a dependent to pay, allowances, or other compensation to which he is not otherwise entitled. “§ 557. Settlement of accounts “(a) The Secretary concerned, or his designee, may settle the account of— “(1) a member of a uniformed service for whose account payments have been made under sections 552, 553, and 555 of this title; and “(2) a survivor of a casualty to a ship, station, or military installation which results in the loss or destruction of disbursing records. That settlement is conclusive on the accounting officers of the United States in settling the accounts of disbursing officers. “(b) Payment or settlement of an account made pursuant to a report, determination, or finding of death may not be recovered or reopened because of a later report or determination which fixes a date of death. However, an account shall be reopened and settled on the basis of a date of death so fixed which is later than that used as a basis for earlier settlements. “(c) In the settlement of his accounts, a disbursing officer is entitled, if there is no fraud or criminality by him, to credit for an erroneous payment or overpayment he made in carrying out this chapter, except section 558. Unless there is fraud or criminality by him, recovery may not be made from a civilian officer or employee or a member of a uniformed service who authorizes a payment under this chapter, except section 558. 80 Stat. 631 “§ 558. Income tax deferment “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Federal income tax return of, or the payment of a Federal income tax by, a member of a uniformed service who, at the time the return or payment would otherwise become due, is in a missing status, does not become due until the earlier of the following dates— “(1) the fifteenth day of the third month in which he ceased (except by reason of death or incompetency) being in a missing status, unless before the end of that fifteenth day he is again in a missing status; or “(2) the fifteenth day of the third month after the month in which an executor, administrator, or conservator of the estate of the taxpayer is appointed. That due date is prescribed subject to the power of the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate to extend the time for filing the return or paying the tax, as in other cases, and to assess and collect the tax as provided by sections 6851, 6861, and 6871 of title 26 in cases in which the assessment or collection is jeopardized and in cases of bankruptcy or receivership.”