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Defense Department form, series DD, number 2656-1. Full title: DD Form 2656-1, SBP Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage, April 2009. Function: Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage. Edition in force: not stated. Publisher status: not stated.
Governing directive: not stated. Responsible office: not stated. The DD designation signals joint scope — all military departments, combatant commands and defense agencies draw on a single edition of the document.
The form reaches military personnel across the services, civilian employees of the Department, and the personnel and records specialists who receive it.
Submission follows the schedule set by not stated and by local implementing procedures. This page provides the blank form for download and general orientation only.
Formats offered: PDF. Length: 2 pages. Fillable field count: roughly 65.
The pdf is the primary distribution format. A fillable pdf accepts typed entries in defined field boxes and stores them in the file; a printable pdf is a flat image of the blank, meant for pen entry after printing. The distinction matters for legibility and for records that pass between offices.
Xfdl is present in the set. The format belongs to IBM Lotus Forms — long the Defense standard for electronic forms — and needs the matching viewer; pdf applications will report the file as unreadable.
All formats download free of charge. Pdf files open in any modern reader; interactive fields behave most predictably in a desktop application, less so in browser viewers.
What the form asks for
- Section 1 - Election of Coverage - Retired Members only. 1. Due to divorce, change my SBP coverage to: Press space bar to mark X in first box if former spouse, second box if former spouse and child(ren).
- Section 2 - Retired and retiring members. 2. Are you currently married? X first box if yes, second box if no.
- 3. Is this election being made pursuant to the requirements of a court order? X first box if yes, second box if no.
- 4. Is this election being made pursuant to a written agreement previously entered into voluntarily as part of or incident to a proceeding of divorce, dissolution or annulment? X first box if yes, second box if no.
- 5. If Yes to item 4, was such a voluntary written agreement incorporated in, ratified, or approved by a court order? X first box if yes, second box if no.
- 6. Date of birth of former spouse: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day
- 7. Date married to former spouse: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- 8. Date divorced from former spouse: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- 9. Has former spouse remarried? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- 10. If yes, date former spouse remarried: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- 10. Dependent Children. a. Name: last, first, middle initial, line 1 of 5.
- 10. b. Date of birth : 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- 10.c. Social security number. Do not include dashes.
- 10. d. Relationship (Son, daughter, etc.).
- 10. e. Disabled? Enter yes or no.
- 10.a. Dependent name, line 2.
- 10.b. Date of birth.
- 10.c. Social security number.
- 10.d. Relationship.
- 10.e. Disabled (yes or no).
- 10.a. Dependent name, line 3.
- 10.b. Date of birth.
- 10.c. Social security number.
- 10.d. Relationship.
Order of completion: identification block first, substantive entries second, certification and signature last. The blank is laid out in that sequence and the sequence is not arbitrary — later entries often depend on data established in the header.
Edition in use: not stated. Because DD forms are revised at Department level and distributed to all services at once, an obsolete printing may not match the fields an office expects. The date is printed on the form face.
The signature block takes an actual signature. On paper this means ink; electronically it means a credentialed digital signature, commonly CAC-based. Typed text in a signature field satisfies neither.
Privacy Act Statements accompany DoD forms that gather personal identifiers. Content of the statement: legal authority, principal purpose, routine uses, and the effect of declining to provide the information. It is printed on the form for that reason.
Recurring errors: entry on a superseded edition, blanks left in mandatory fields, illegible handwriting on scanned copies, dates in a format other than the one the form specifies, missing signature or missing date beside the signature.
Instructions printed on the form or in not stated govern individual field entries. Where the two differ, the governing publication controls.
The completed document moves to the office named in not stated or in local guidance. A retained copy is conventional practice.
Related documents are located by series and number. DD forms sit in a single Department-wide sequence, so a form referenced inside DD Form 2656-1 is normally found by its number alone, without regard to service.
Where a DA form is cited alongside a DD form, the two belong to different systems: DA numbering is Army-specific and administered by an Army proponent, while DD numbering is Defense-wide under not stated or an equivalent Department office. Numbers do not translate between the systems.
Revision occurs when the prescribing directive is reissued, when the data collected changes, or when statutory notice language is amended. Verification of the edition date at download addresses all three.
The material here is descriptive. Nothing on the page constitutes legal or procedural advice, and no statement here determines whether a submitted form will be accepted. Such questions go to not stated, a servicing administrative office, or the authority identified in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2656-1?
- DD Form 2656-1, SBP Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage, April 2009
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?