§ 10.909 How does an employee designate a variation in the order or percentage of gratuity payable to survivors and how does the employee designate alternate beneficiaries?

FederalRegulations

Ask Donna

How this section applies to your facts.

Title 20 CFR: Employees' Benefits › Chapter I: OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR › Part 10: CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION UNDER THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT, AS AMENDED › Subpart J: Death Gratuity › § 10.909: § 10.909 How does an employee designate a variation in the order or percentage of gratuity payable to survivors and how does the employee designate alternate beneficiaries?

This text was captured on Aug 14, 2026. It is a snapshot, not a live feed, so check the official code before relying on it.

Text

(a) Form CA-40 must be used to make a variation in the order or percentages of survivors under § 10.907 and/or to make an alternate beneficiary designation under § 10.908. A designation may be made at any time before the employee's death, regardless of the time of injury. The form will not be valid unless it is signed by the employee and received and signed prior to the death of the employee by the supervisor of the employee or by another official of the employing agency authorized to do so.

(b) Alternatively, any paper executed prior to the effective date of this regulation that specifies an alternate beneficiary of the death gratuity payment will serve as a valid designation if it is in writing, completed before the employee's death, signed by the employee, and signed prior to the death of the employee by the supervisor of the employee or by another official of the employing agency authorized to do so.

(c) If an employee makes a survivor designation under § 10.907(c), but does not designate the portions to be received by each designated survivor, the death gratuity will be disbursed to the survivors in equal shares.

(d) An alternate beneficiary designation made under § 10.908 must indicate the percentage of the death gratuity, in 10 percent increments up to the maximum of 50 percent, that the designated person(s) will receive. No more than five alternate beneficiaries may be designated. If the designation fails to indicate the percentage to be paid to an alternate beneficiary, the designation to that person will be invalid.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.

§ 10.909 How does an employee designate a variation in the order or percentage of gratuity payable to survivors and how does the employee designate alternate beneficiaries? · 20 C.F.R. § 10.909 (2026) | Frix