{"data":{"id":"us/38-cfr-9.4","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"38 CFR 9.4","heading":"Beneficiaries and options.","body":"Any designation of beneficiary or election of settlement options is subject to the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1970 and 1977 and the following provisions:\n(a) Any designation of beneficiary or settlement option election made by any member insured under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance for full-time coverage or part-time coverage will remain in effect until properly changed by the member or canceled automatically for any of the following reasons:\n(1) The insurance terminates following separation or release from all duty in a uniformed service.\n(2) The member enters on duty in another uniformed service.\n(3) The member reenters on duty in the same uniformed service more than 1 calendar day after separation or release from all duty in that uniformed service.\n(b) A change of beneficiary may be made at any time and without the knowledge or consent of the previous beneficiary.\n(c) Until and unless otherwise changed, a beneficiary designation and settlement option election of record on the date a statutory increase in coverage takes effect shall be considered to be a beneficiary and optional settlement election for the increased amount as well, and any beneficiary named therein shall be entitled to the same percentage (%) share of the new total coverage amount as that beneficiary was entitled to prior to the statutory increase in coverage.","path":["Title 38—Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief","CHAPTER I—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS","PART 9—SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE AND VETERANS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-38.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:25:50Z","sha256":"14ea20619b07520d657bdfb4e8f0fb6825c025e05016352f46d21dd2371ade1a","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/38-cfr-9.3","next":"us/38-cfr-9.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}