37 U.S.C. § 701 — Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force; contract surgeons

Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned, a commissioned officer^* of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force may transfer or assign the officer’s pay^* account, when due and payable.

A contract surgeon, or contract dental surgeon, of the Army, Navy, or Air Force, on duty in Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, or Puerto Rico, may transfer or assign the person’s pay account, when due and payable, under the regulations prescribed under subsection (a).

An enlisted member^* of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force may not assign the member’s pay, and if the member^* does so, the assignment is void.

Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force and a contract surgeon of the Army, Navy, or Air Force may make allotments from the pay of the member or surgeon for the purpose of supporting relatives or for any other purpose that the Secretary considers proper. Such allotments may include a maximum of six allotments considered to be discretionary under such regulations. For a member or former member entitled to retired or retainer pay, a maximum of six discretionary allotments authorized during active military service may be continued into retired status, and new discretionary allotments may be authorized so long as the total number of discretionary allotments does not exceed six.

If an allotment made under subsection (d) is paid to the allottee before the disbursing officer^* receives a notice of discontinuance from the officer required by regulation to furnish the notice, the amount of the allotment shall be credited to the disbursing officer. If an allotment is erroneously paid because the officer required by regulation to so report failed to report the death of the allotter or any other fact that makes the allotment not payable, the amount of the payment not recovered from the allottee shall, if practicable, be collected by the Secretary concerned^* from the officer who failed to make the report.