Military / service member
Estate planning for service members and military families.
Military life adds variables most estate plans miss: deployment, SCRA protections, military-specific will provisions, and SGLI beneficiary forms that override your civilian will.
What matters in your case
Get these four things right.
Statutory military will under 10 U.S.C. §1044d
A will signed in front of an authorized military legal-assistance attorney is valid in every state, regardless of state-specific witness rules. Useful before a deployment when civilian formalities are hard to meet.
SGLI beneficiary form is independent
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance pays by the SGLV-8286 beneficiary form, not by your will. An ex-spouse from before service still listed there will receive the proceeds.
TSP beneficiary form, same problem
Thrift Savings Plan distributes per TSP-3 beneficiary form. Update after marriage, divorce, or any major change. The will doesn't reach this.
SCRA + estate planning
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects against certain civil judgments and foreclosures while on active duty — but doesn't extend protection to your estate after death. Plan accordingly.
The longer answer
Military families face a few estate-planning twists civilian families don't. Deployment timelines compress everything: you may need a will signed before a 30-day notice. The SGLI life-insurance benefit ($500k max) often dwarfs the rest of the estate, and it passes by its own beneficiary form — not by your will.
If you're active-duty and need a will fast, the base legal-assistance office can usually draft a statutory military will under 10 U.S.C. §1044d, valid in every state, free of charge. For thoroughness — guardian nominations, complex bequests, trusts for minor children — a Trustwise will or any private platform works alongside.
The single most important thing for active-duty service members: confirm your SGLV-8286 (SGLI), TSP-3 (Thrift Savings Plan), and DD-93 (next-of-kin) forms are current. Each is independent of your will. Each is updated by you, online, in minutes.
Start your will today.
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