Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 70A.djvu/323

265 265 Office for action authorized in the settlement of accounts of deceased members of the Army. § 4713. Disposition of effects of deceased persons by Soldiers' Home (a) The effects of a deceased person that the Department of the Army receives under section 4712(f) of this title shall be delivered to the Soldiers' Home. The Home shall dispose of the effects as follows: (1) A will or other paper involving property rights shall be promptly delivered to the proper court of record. (2) If the heirs or legal representative of the deceased cannot sooner be ascertained, the Home shall retain the remaining effects until three years after the death of the deceased, and then, upon establishment of a right thereto to the satisfaction of the Home, it shall deliver them to the living person highest on the following list who can be found: (A) Surviving spouse or legal representative. (B) Son. (C) Daughter. (D) Father, if he has not abandoned the support of his family. (E) Mother. (F) Brother. (G) Sister. (H) Next of kin. (I) Beneficiary named in the will of the deceased. (b) After three years from the date of death, the Home may sell the effects to which a right has not been established by the heirs or legal representative, except decorations, medals, and citations, by public or private sale, as it considers most advantageous. (c) After five years from the date of death, the Home shall dispose of effects that are not sold under subsection (b) and to which a right has not been established by the heirs or legal representative of the deceased, including decorations, medals, and citations, in the manner that it considers most appropriate in the public interest. I t may retain them; deliver them to the Veterans' Administration, a State or other military home, a museum, or other appropriate institution; or destroy them if the Board of Commissioners of the Home determines that they are valueless. (d) The net proceeds received by the Home from the sale of the deceased's effects shall be covered into the Treasury to the credit of the fund called the "Soldiers' Home permanent fund (trust fund)", and the principal of the fund so increased shall draw interest at 3 percent a year, payable quarterly to the treasurer of the Home. (e) A claim for the net proceeds of the sale of the deceased's effects may be filed with the General Accounting Office at any time within six years after the date of his death, for action under section 2771 of this title. If not so filed, such a claim may not be considered by a court or the General Accounting Office. (f) A claim allowed by the General Accounting Office under subsection (e) shall be certified to the treasurer of the Home for payment from the Soldiers' Home permanent fund (trust fund) in the amount

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