Department of Defense
DIRECTIVE
NUMBER 1350.4
April 28, 2001
Certified Current as of December 1, 2003
Incorporating Change 1, June 13, 2001
USD(P&R)
SUBJECT: Legal Assistance Matters
References: (a) Title 10, United States Code
1. PURPOSE
This Directive implements reference (a) for persons eligible for military legal assistance
by establishing a uniform approach for the execution of military testamentary
instruments.
2. APPLICABILITY
This Directive applies to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Military
Departments, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Combatant Commands, the
Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Defense Agencies, the
DoD Field Activities, and all other organizational entities within the Department of
Defense (hereafter referred to collectively as "the DoD Components"). The term
"Military Services," as used herein, refers to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the
Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard when it is operating as a Service in the Department of
the Navy.
3. DEFINITIONS
3.1. Estate Planning. The continuing process of arranging for the use, conservation,
and transfer of one's property and wealth during life and upon death. The process
produces a plan that may include some or all of these: a testator/testatrix will, military
testamentary instrument, a trust, life insurance, an advance medical directive, a healthcare
power of attorney, designation of anatomical gifts, and other dispositive documents.
