[Request for Reconsideration of Denial of Claim for Accumulated Retired Pay]

The legal representative and sole beneficiary of a deceased Army member requested reconsideration of the denial of her claim for the member's accumulated retired pay. GAO held that: (1) any member of the armed forces retired for physical disability is entitled to retired pay; (2) the amount due a deceased member is paid to the designated beneficiary, surviving spouse, children, or a legal representative; (3) the validity of the member's will was doubtful, so the claimant's status as the legal representative was too uncertain to allow payment of the claim; and (4) the government will only authorize payments to a member's estate if there is a duly appointed legal representative at the decedent's home at the time of his death. GAO found that: (1) there was a question as to whether the will was probated in the proper jurisdiction because the decedent did not reside in the state where the claimant registered the will; (2) prior to the time the member executed his will, he was diagnosed as mentally incompetent; (3) claim settlement would require determinations which were not within GAO jurisdiction; and (4) since the claimant could not establish her right to payment, the claim was disallowed. Accordingly, the prior decision was affirmed.