AF Form 1180, Designation of Beneficiary for Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Member, tells the Air Force who should receive any pay it still owes you if you die on active service. To complete it, list each beneficiary’s full legal name, Social Security number, current address, relationship to you, and a share of the total, making sure the shares add up to exactly 100 percent. Then sign the form in front of two disinterested witnesses and turn it in to your servicing finance or personnel office.
What the Form Actually Controls
AF Form 1180 covers only the compensation the Air Force owes you at death. Under 10 U.S.C. § 2771, that includes your final paycheck prorated to the date of death, unused accrued leave, funds you deposited with the service, and outstanding travel or transportation allowances.1GovInfo. 10 U.S.C. 2771 – Final Settlement of Accounts: Deceased Members The dollar amount depends on where you are in the pay cycle, how much leave has built up, and whether any deposited savings are on file.
The form does not control the $100,000 death gratuity, which is a separate tax-free payment for immediate family expenses and is designated on DD Form 93, the Record of Emergency Data.2Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Death Gratuity It also does not control Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, which uses its own SGLI election form. Each document controls a different pool of money, and members frequently confuse them.
DD Form 93 itself contains a section for designating beneficiaries of unpaid pay and allowances, and that section overlaps with AF Form 1180.3Department of Defense. Record of Emergency Data (DD Form 93) Both feed the same statute. Ask your finance or personnel office which one your installation treats as the primary beneficiary record; practices vary. What matters is that at least one current, properly witnessed designation is on file.
How to Fill Out AF Form 1180
Download the current edition from the Air Force e-Publishing website (e-publishing.af.mil) and check the edition date before you start. An outdated version can be rejected.
For each beneficiary, the form asks for:
- Full legal name, exactly as it appears on official identification. Nicknames and abbreviations create matching problems when DFAS processes the eventual claim.
- Social Security number. DFAS uses it to verify identity and issue payment. A beneficiary without an SSN, such as a foreign-national spouse, will later submit IRS Form W-7 or W-8 with their claim.
- Current mailing address. An outdated address is one of the most common reasons payments stall.
- Relationship to you: spouse, child, parent, sibling, friend, trust, estate, or other. Be specific.
- A percentage or fraction of the total. Shares must sum to exactly 100 percent, or the form gets kicked back for correction.
Primary and Contingent Beneficiaries
Name both. Primary beneficiaries receive the funds first. Contingent beneficiaries receive them only if every primary beneficiary has already died. Without contingents, if your primary designees are gone, the government falls back to the statutory order of precedence.
Trusts and Estates
To pay funds to a trust, list the full trust name and the date of the trust agreement. When the trust’s representative later files the claim, they will need court-ordered documentation naming the trustee and trust documentation confirming that authority.4Defense Finance and Accounting Service. How to Claim a Retirees Arrears of Pay Using the SF 1174 Naming your estate means the executor will need a court-issued appointment letter at claim time. Trusts and estates use an Employer Identification Number in place of the SSN.
Minor Children
You can name minor children, but minors generally cannot receive government payments directly. When a minor is the beneficiary, the person filing on the child’s behalf must complete DD Form 2790 (Application for Determination of Pay Grade). A parent or legal guardian typically submits the claim and receives the funds for the child. If none is available, a court-appointed custodian or guardian handles it.
Signing and Witnessing
You must sign AF Form 1180 in the physical presence of two witnesses. A form without proper witnessing can be ruled invalid, in which case your final pay is distributed under the default statutory order rather than to the people you chose.
Both witnesses must be disinterested, meaning neither is named as a beneficiary anywhere on the form. Each witness signs and provides a printed name and address. Their signatures confirm you signed voluntarily and appeared to be of sound mind. A coworker, supervisor, or anyone in your unit who is not a listed beneficiary can serve.
Where to Submit It
Deliver the signed, witnessed form to your local Financial Management Flight or Force Support Squadron. That office places it in your official personnel record. Verify it is on file through the electronic personnel records system or by asking your servicing personnel office directly.
Keep a personal copy somewhere secure and let your beneficiaries know it exists. If the original is ever lost from official records, a personal copy helps establish your intent, though DFAS pays based on the version on file.
What Happens Without a Valid Designation
If you die without a valid AF Form 1180 on file, 10 U.S.C. § 2771 directs payment to the highest-ranking survivor on this list:
- Surviving spouse
- Children and their descendants
- Father and mother, in equal shares, or the survivor of them
- Legal representative of the estate
- Person entitled under the law of your home state
Without a designation, DFAS has to locate survivors, decide who ranks highest, and verify identities, which can take many months.6Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Arrears of Pay A completed AF Form 1180 skips that entirely by satisfying the first item on the statutory list: a beneficiary designated in writing.
When to Update It
Review the form after any major life change: marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, or the death of a named beneficiary. Divorce causes the most trouble. If you do not file a new designation, your ex-spouse remains the named beneficiary and will be paid. The government pays whoever the form names, not whoever you would have chosen if asked.
Use annual records reviews as a checkpoint. When your unit conducts a review, confirm that both your AF Form 1180 and your DD Form 93 reflect your current wishes. Filing a new form automatically supersedes any prior version, so there is no need to formally revoke the old one. Complete a fresh form with new witness signatures and turn it in.
How Your Beneficiaries Will Collect
Payment is not automatic after your death. Each designated beneficiary must file SF 1174, Claim for Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Member of the Uniformed Services, to receive the money.7General Services Administration (GSA). Claim for Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Member of the Uniformed Services A Casualty Assistance Representative normally walks the family through it. The claimant completes SF 1174, signs it in front of two disinterested witnesses, attaches a death certificate showing cause or manner of death, and submits DFAS-CL Form 1059 for direct deposit.8Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Report a Retirees Death Up to two claimants can share one SF 1174 if both sign on the same date in front of the witnesses; additional claimants file separately.4Defense Finance and Accounting Service. How to Claim a Retirees Arrears of Pay Using the SF 1174 Telling your beneficiaries now that a designation exists, and where to find your personal copy, spares them the guesswork later.