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DD Form 2894 Designation of Beneficiary Information
What Is DD Form 2894?
DD Form 2894, Designation of Beneficiary Information is a form used to designate the beneficiaries of a service member eligible to receive any unpaid retired pay after the service member's death. A DD Form 2894 fillable version is available for filing and download below or can be found through the Executive Services Directorate website.
The form - sometimes incorrectly referred to as DA Form 2894 - was released by the Department of Defense (DoD) on April 1, 2017 with the previous editions now obsolete.
The DA 2894 is applicable to any payments the retired service member is due on the date of their death - including their retired pay and any Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) they were eligible to. The form allows the service member to elect the shares of those payments for each beneficiary or to elect an equal share.
How to Fill Out DD Form 2894?
The form is made up of two pages with fling guidelines provided on the second page. The DD Form 2894 instructions are as follows:
- Boxes 1a and 1b require the retired service members' name and their social security number.
- Boxes 2 is for listing the designated beneficiaries and can contain up to five names. Each line should contain the full name of the beneficiary, their social security number, the relationship to the retiree, and their full address (with ZIP code).
- The boxes describing the percentages of the shares can be left blank for all entries if the retiree wishes to equally share their unpaid pay.
- If the retiree does not wish to elect a beneficiary, they must provide elect a family member (or several family members) who may be contacted in the event of the retiree's death.
- Each entry in Box 3 should contain the full name of the family members along with their social security number, full address, and relationship to the retiree.
- The form needs to be signed and dated by the retired service member in Boxes 4a and 4b.
The completed DD 2894 should be returned to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) U.S. Military Retired Pay at 8899 E. 56th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46249-1300 .
Download DD Form 2894 Designation of Beneficiary Information
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