DFAS forms for retired military live in one place: the retired and annuitant pay forms library at dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/forms/. You can download any of them as a fillable PDF without an account, and the library is organized by what you want to do — change an allotment, update direct deposit, name a beneficiary, apply for a survivor annuity, request a debt waiver — rather than by form number.
Browse the categories that match your situation:
- Forms for Retirees cover allotment changes, direct deposit, address updates, beneficiary designations, and tax withholding.
- Forms for SBP Annuitants and Survivors cover applications for survivor annuities, school certifications for child annuitants, and marital status verifications.
- Forms for Former Spouses cover elections and claims tied to a former member’s retired pay.
- Forms for Legal Representatives cover guardianship and custodianship documentation.
- Forms for Other Situations cover debt waivers, military record corrections, and requests for mailed checks.
Each listing shows the form number, its title, and a short description of when to use it. Most forms are fillable PDFs, so you can type your entries before printing. That alone cuts down on the legibility problems that lead to processing delays.
One boundary worth knowing up front: active duty pay actions go through your local finance office or SmartVoucher, not this library. The forms library is built for retirees and annuitants.
Which Form You Need
Most traffic goes to a handful of forms. Match yours to the action:
- DD Form 2558 starts, stops, or changes an allotment from your retired pay.
- The DFAS Direct Deposit Authorization starts or changes direct deposit for retired pay or SBP annuity payments. For international accounts, use OF 1199-I.
- DD Form 2894 designates the beneficiary for your last retired pay payment (Arrears of Pay).
- DD Form 2866 updates your mailing address or your state tax withholding election.
- DD Form 2656-7 is the verification survivors complete to apply for an SBP annuity.
- DD Form 2656-6 changes SBP coverage after a qualifying life event such as marriage or divorce.
- DD Form 2789 requests a waiver when DFAS says you were overpaid.
- DD Form 149 applies for a correction to your military record, including a name change, through the Board for Correction of Military Records.
Filling Out DD Form 2558 for Allotments
DD Form 2558 is one of the most-downloaded forms in the library, and it has 22 fields. Any required field left blank sends it back.
The top section asks for your branch of service, full name as it appears on your military record, DoD ID number, pay grade, and mailing address. Field 7 wants the effective date in YYYYMM format. Field 8 is the monthly dollar amount. Field 10 is where you mark whether you’re starting, stopping, or changing the allotment.
Field 13 is the allotment class. Class D covers most discretionary uses — dependent support, payments to a bank, insurance premiums, and loan repayments. Other classes exist for charity contributions, service organization loans (Navy and Marine Corps only), and debts owed to the federal government or delinquent state and local taxes.
Fields 17 and 18 capture the payee’s routing transit number and account number if the money goes to a financial institution. A wrong routing number is one of the fastest ways to misdirect funds. Verify it against a voided check or your bank’s online portal, not a checkbook you haven’t used in years.
Sign and date the bottom. The signature block includes a UCMJ certification that the allotment is not for purchasing, leasing, or renting personal property. An unsigned form is invalid.
Applying for an SBP Annuity
Survivors submit a package, not a single form. The core document is DD Form 2656-7 (Verification for Survivor Annuity), which DFAS offers as a printable PDF and as an online Form Wizard for spouses, former spouses, and child annuitants.
The package also includes:
- IRS Form W-4P to set federal income tax withholding on the annuity.
- FMS Form 2231 or SF 1199A to enroll in direct deposit. Use SF 1199-I for international bank accounts.
- A copy of the death certificate showing cause of death, or a DD 1300 Report of Casualty for active duty deaths.
Additional documents apply in specific situations. A DD Form 2790 (Custodianship Certificate) is required when the claimant is a minor. A DD Form 2788 (School Certification) is required for child annuitants ages 18 to 22 who attend school full-time. Nonresident aliens whose country has a U.S. tax treaty submit IRS Form W8-BEN. If someone other than the claimant signs the application, DFAS requires a copy of the power of attorney, guardianship order, or representative payee documentation.
How to Submit and How Long It Takes
DFAS accepts forms through askDFAS online upload, U.S. mail, and fax. The channel you choose changes the timeline.
askDFAS Online Upload
askDFAS is the fastest option. Go to the upload page that matches your customer type (retiree or SBP annuitant), fill in the identifying information, attach your completed and signed PDF, and submit. Every attachment must include the retiree’s name and Social Security number; SBP annuitants add the annuitant’s name and SSN as well.
Uploads take up to three business days to appear in the DFAS processing system. A typical request then takes about 30 business days to process if everything required came in with the initial submission.
Retirees mail forms to:
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Retired Pay
8899 E 56th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200
Annuitants, beneficiaries, and survivors mail forms to:
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Annuitant Pay
8899 E 56th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46249-1300
DFAS estimates 60 days to process a mailed request when all required information is included. Requests needing additional research or computation take longer.
Fax
The retired pay fax line is 800-469-6559. The annuitant pay fax line is 800-982-8459. Faxing works for time-sensitive updates, but confirm the transmission went through. A failed fax looks like a submitted form on the sender’s end and never arrives at DFAS.
Changing Your Tax Withholding
Retirees adjust federal withholding with IRS Form W-4. Annuitants use IRS Form W-4P. The fastest path is myPay, where the change takes effect without any mailing. Paper forms go to the mail or fax addresses above.
If standard withholding doesn’t cover your full tax bill, request an additional flat amount by writing “Withhold additional FITW only” on the W-4 or W-4P. Retirees claiming exempt status must recertify every year with a new W-4; skip the recertification and DFAS defaults you to single with zero adjustments. Paper withholding changes take about 30 days.
For state tax withholding, use DD Form 2866. That same form handles mailing address changes, so both updates can go on one submission.
What a Power of Attorney Can and Cannot Do
DFAS accepts a power of attorney for some actions but draws a hard line on pay changes. A valid POA must be signed by the principal with a notarized signature, and the agent must submit a copy of a valid government-issued ID.
With a valid POA, an agent can change the correspondence address, request account statements, obtain copies of W-2s or 1099-R forms, complete reports of existence, and access account information protected by the Privacy Act.
What the agent cannot do matters more. A POA holder cannot make pay-related changes. That rules out updating bank accounts, starting or stopping allotments, and changing direct deposit. Those actions require the account owner or a court-appointed guardian, conservator, trustee, or representative payee. A POA also cannot create or access a myPay account.
Requesting a Debt Waiver With DD Form 2789
If DFAS says you were overpaid, you’ll get a debt notification letter. You can repay the debt or request a waiver with DD Form 2789 (Waiver/Remission of Indebtedness Application).
Waivers are not automatic. DFAS approves them only when collection would be against equity and good conscience and not in the government’s best interest. In practice, that means the overpayment came from an administrative error on DFAS’s end and you did not know or have reason to know you were being overpaid. A large unexplained pay increase you never questioned will likely defeat the waiver. Financial hardship plays no role in the decision.
Military members, retirees, and former spouse claimants have five years from the date the debt was discovered to submit DD Form 2789. An unsigned application is invalid and returns without action. If you dispute the debt itself, resolve that first — DFAS will not process a waiver while the underlying debt is contested. You can request an audit of your account before filing, and if you do, attach the audit results and a statement acknowledging the debt’s validity.
Filing a waiver does not pause collection. If DFAS collects some or all of the debt before approving the waiver, the collected amount is refunded.
Why Forms Get Rejected
Most rejections come from the same short list of mistakes:
- Unsigned forms. This is the single most common reason DFAS returns a form.
- Name mismatches. Your name on the form must match your official military record. If you changed your name after separation, update your record with DD Form 149 first.
- Outdated form versions. The library lists a revision date next to each form. Older editions get returned.
- Missing identifiers. askDFAS uploads require your name and SSN on every attachment. For mailed forms, adding your name and DoD ID number to each page keeps pages from being processed out of context if they get separated.
- Wrong routing or account numbers. Verify against your bank’s website.
- Blank required fields. The form comes back with a notice listing what’s missing, and the round trip costs weeks.
Reaching DFAS for Help
If you’re unsure which form to use or how to complete it, DFAS customer service is at 800-321-1080. Press 1 to report a death or follow up on a claim after a retiree’s death, 2-1-7 for retired pay questions, or 2-2-4 for SBP annuitant questions. The local number is 317-212-0551. askDFAS uploads also send status notifications as documents move through processing, which cuts down on calls for updates.