Casualty procedures amendment: Disposal
of effects
REFERENCE:[26]
A. Casualty Procedures 2000 (AC 12974)—Chapter
18.
B. D/DPS(A)/28/3/PS4(A) dated 18 Mar 03.
1. General. Reference B promulgated
some important changes in the procedures for the disposal of personal
effects of deceased personnel. These changes arise from a number
of complaints from relatives over the manner in which some items
had been returned or disposed of. For convenience, and in recognition
of the importance of ensuring their implementation, they are repeated
in this letter, together with a further change affecting the return
of passports and driving licences. These additional changes are
shown in bold.
2. Disposal of Items—Paras 1807
and 1808 of Ref A.
(a) In principle nothing of a personal nature
should be disposed of, and certainly not any toilet requisites,
whatever their condition.
(b) Any items which, in the view of the Committee
of Adjustment are clearly and obviously undesirable for relatives
to see (such as blood stained clothes, letters from girl friends
(if married), pornographic magazines/photos or other sexually
explicit documents) should be listed and stored separately. APC
Glasgow Deceased Estates will provide guidance if required. These
items are to be held by the unit for one year from the despatch
of the other personal effects to the beneficiary, after which
they are to be destroyed. The purpose of this is to protect the
family from additional distress, but also to have the items available
should the family be(come) aware that the deceased had them in
his possession, and request their return.
(c) All important papers, as listed in Para
1807, including personal letters (other than above), are to be
listed and sent to APC Glasgow Deceased Estates as soon as possible
after death. The APC will hand them over to the Executors of the
Estate who will in due course return them to the beneficiary.
This includes all credit and loan agreements and does not exclude
NAAFI Financial agreements, as stated in Para 1807c.
(d) Medals are to be returned to The Army
Medal Office in Droitwich, where they will be refurbished and
sent to the beneficiary via the appropriate Regimental Association.
(e) All passports and driving licences are
to be returned to APC Glasgow Deceased Estates along with all
other documentation listed at Para 1807e of Reference A. Passports
are not to be sent to the Passport Office as stated at Para 1807b,
which should be deleted. Deceased Estates will return them to
the Beneficiary through the Executors.
3. Laundering of Personal Effects—Para
1811. Unless the deceased had been suffering from an infectious
disease, when the direction in para 1811 applies, no cleaning
or laundering of personal clothing is to be done without the beneficiary's
agreement (see para 4 below).
4. Inventories—Para 1812. In
addition to the main inventory of the deceased personal effects,
the unit is to prepare a separate inventory of distressing material,
as described at para 2b above. Both are to be sent to APC Glasgow
Deceased Estates, who will send the main inventory to the beneficiary,
asking them if they wish to receive all listed items and whether
they want soiled items to be cleaned/washed. This inventory must
therefore make it clear which items are dirty. The Executors are
to be advised of the distressing material inventory and asked
for disposal instructions.
5. Packing and Despatch of Personal Effects.
This is the area which has attracted most criticism, and units
are to take extra care to ensure that items are tightly and neatly
packed in the most appropriate boxes available, so that they arrive
at the regimental depot, and subsequently with the beneficiary
in a condition one would wish for a private house move. The following
points are to be noted:
(a) Wherever possible, the personal effects
are to be delivered personally by the CVO, whose contact details
may be obtained from the PS4(A) Casualty Cell at Upavon.
(b) If road freight delivery is necessary
due to the size and/or number of boxes, the delivery date is to
be notified to the CVO who will inform the beneficiary. There
is to be no direct contact with the family by the shipping/freight
agent or depot.
(c) Once delivery has been made, the CVO
is to check with the beneficiary that they are content with the
condition of the deceased personal effects. Any complaints should
be passed to the appropriate Regional Division and the PS4(A)
Casualty Cell.
6. Dissemination. The return of personal
effects is an emotional issue for families at the best of times.
If things go wrong in the process, the matter can rapidly get
out of hand and become very contentious. Addressees are therefore
asked to ensure that this letter is disseminated down the chain
of command, so that Committees of Adjustment are made aware of
these changes.
26 Not printed. Back
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