MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES TO DESIGNATE RECIPIENTS FOR PAYMENT OF DEATH GRATUITY.

SEC. 645. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES TO DESIGNATE RECIPIENTS FOR PAYMENT OF DEATH GRATUITY.(a) Authority to Designate Recipients.—Section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, is amended—122 STAT. 159(1) by striking subsections (c) and (d);(2) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (d) and, in such subsection, by striking “Subsection (a)(2)” and inserting “Treatment of Children.—Subsection (b)(2)”; and(3) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following new subsections:“(a) Designation of Recipients.—(1) On and after July 1, 2008, or such earlier date as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe, a person covered by section 1475 or 1476 of this title may designate one or more persons to receive all or a portion of the amount payable under section 1478 of this title. The designation of a person to receive a portion of the amount shall indicate the percentage of the amount, to be specified only in 10 percent increments, that the designated person may receive. The balance of the amount of the death gratuity, if any, shall be paid in accordance with subsection (b).“(2) If a person covered by section 1475 or 1476 of this title has a spouse, but designates a person other than the spouse to receive all or a portion of the amount payable under section 1478 of this title, the Secretary concerned shall provide notice of the designation to the spouse.“(b) Distribution of Remainder; Distribution in Absence of Designated Recipient.—If a person covered by section 1475 or 1476 of this title does not make a designation under subsection (a) or designates only a portion of the amount payable under section 1478 of this title, the amount of the death gratuity not covered by a designation shall be paid as follows:“(1) To the surviving spouse of the person, if any.“(2) If there is no surviving spouse, to any surviving children (as prescribed by subsection (d)) of the person and the descendants of any deceased children by representation.“(3) If there is none of the above, to the surviving parents (as prescribed by subsection (c)) of the person or the survivor of them.“(4) If there is none of the above, to the duly-appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the person.“(5) If there is none of the above, to other next of kin of the person entitled under the laws of domicile of the person at the time of the person’s death.“(c) Treatment of Parents.—For purposes of subsection (b)(3), parents include fathers and mothers through adoption. However, only one father and one mother may be recognized in any case, and preference shall be given to those who exercised a parental relationship on the date, or most nearly before the date, on which the decedent entered a status described in section 1475 or 1476 of this title.”.(b) Clerical and Conforming Amendments.—Subsection (e) of such section is amended—(1) by inserting “Effect of Death Before Receipt of Gratuity.—” after “(e)”;(2) by striking “subsection (a) or (d)” and inserting “subsection (a) or (b)”; and(3) by striking “subsection (a).” and inserting “subsection (b)”.(c) Existing Designation Authority.—The authority provided by subsection (d) of section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this 122 STAT. 160 Act, shall remain available to persons covered by section 1475 or 1476 of such title until July 1, 2008, or such earlier date as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe, and any designation under such subsection made before July 1, 2008, or the earlier date prescribed by the Secretary, shall continue in effect until such time as the person who made the designation makes a new designation under such section 1477, as amended by subsection (a) of this section.(d) Regulations.—(1) In general.—Not later than April 1, 2008, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to implement the amendments to section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, made by subsection (a).(2) Elements.—The regulations required by paragraph (1) shall include forms for the making of the designation contemplated by subsection (a) of section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a) of this section, and instructions for members of the Armed Forces in the filling out of such forms.