MLR-14 · MILITARY LIFE RECORD
Death
MLR-14: Death certificate, casualty process, cause of death, final compensation, insurance, burial, honors, beneficiary records, and transition to survivor claims.
Controlling research question
Identify the death-related facts and records first, then separate the distinct military, VA, insurance, burial, pay, and estate programs.
Core records to preserve
Death certificate; casualty documents; medical/cause records; unpaid pay; insurance policies and beneficiaries; burial records; final tax and account records.
Chronology and evidence testing
- Record the event date separately from the date a document was created.
- Identify the person, component, unit, duty status, location, and issuing office where they matter.
- Separate a record’s express statement from inference, family recollection, or a later summary.
- Preserve conflicts rather than silently harmonizing them; record negative searches by repository, query, dates, and coverage.
Key evidence pathways
- Medical & Disability Records
- Pay & Finance Records
- Family & Beneficiary Records
- Casualty & Death Records
Related navigation guides
- Immediate Steps After A Service Member Or Veteran Dies
- Casualty Assistance Survivor Support
- Final Pay Arrears Of Pay
- Burial National Cemetery Military Honors
Authority and effective-date discipline
This Life Record chapter organizes chronology and evidence. It does not by itself state current eligibility, entitlement, deadline, or legal effect. For a rule-dependent question, identify the governing statute, regulation, departmental instruction, program guidance, or decision effective on the relevant date and use the linked Navigation Guide for the current pathway.
Preservation standard
Keep the best available source copy unchanged. Store edited, OCR, transcription, annotation, or working versions separately. Record creator, date/covered period, repository, exact locator, provenance, proposition supported, express limitations, and derivative lineage.
