So what is DD Form 2656-1? The short answer: a Defense Department document, officially DD Form 2656-1, SBP Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage, April 2009, used to Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage. Anything else you need follows from that.
Is there a version specific to your service? No. A DD number is issued at Department level, which is the whole point of the prefix — every military department and defense agency works from one identical document. Looking for a branch variant wastes time you do not have.
Who decides this form exists? not stated owns it; not stated directs its use. If someone told you to file this, the authority traces back to those.
Is this the right edition? The current one is dated not stated, and the publisher carries it as not stated. Check that against whatever copy you already have before going further.
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.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 2 pages and approximately 65 fields.
Is xfdl worth downloading? Only if you have the viewer. The format comes from IBM Lotus Forms, which carried Defense form distribution for a long stretch, and no ordinary pdf application will read it.
What does any of this cost? Nothing. Every format listed is a free download. One practical note: save the file and open it in a desktop pdf reader, because browser previews often ignore interactive fields and lose what you typed.
In what order do you complete it? The printed order, top to bottom. Header data comes before the body, and the body before the signature block. The sequence is not decorative — later entries are keyed to earlier ones.
Why does the edition matter so much here? Because DD forms are revised centrally. When the Department reissues one, it reissues it for all branches simultaneously, and the field layout can shift. Compare the printed date against not stated before you type anything.
What about a box that does not apply to you? Enter N/A rather than leaving it empty. An empty field reads as an oversight and sends the form back; N/A reads as an answer. What about dates? Use the format printed beside the field, not the one you write by habit.
What is the Privacy Act Statement doing on the form? Telling you, before you supply personal identifiers, under what authority the information is collected, what it will be used for, who else may see it, and whether answering is voluntary or mandatory. Is it worth reading? It is the only part of the form written for your benefit rather than the file's.
What counts as a signature? Ink on a printed copy, or a credentialed digital signature — CAC-based, applied in software that supports it. What does not count? Your name typed into the signature box. That is a name. Then date the block, because an undated certification is a returned form.
What sends forms back most often? An obsolete edition, blank required boxes, handwriting illegible after scanning, dates in a format the form did not ask for, and certification without a signature or without a date.
Where do you look up an unclear entry? The form face first, not stated second. And when the two disagree? not stated controls.
What happens after you finish? It routes to the office specified in not stated or in local guidance. And your own record? Save a duplicate first; nobody regrets having one.
How do you find a form referenced inside this one? By its number alone. The DD sequence runs across the entire Department, so a number identifies exactly one document regardless of which service cited it.
Do DA and DD numbers ever correspond? Never. DA numbering is Army-specific, administered by an Army proponent, while DD numbering is Department-wide under not stated or an equivalent Department office. Identical digits in the two systems mean two unrelated documents, which is why the prefix matters more than the number.
Why do editions change at all? Three reasons, mostly: the prescribing directive gets reissued, the information collected changes, or the required notice language is amended. Are you notified when it happens? No. Which is why confirming not stated at the moment you download is worth the few seconds.
Is any of this advice? No. This page distributes a published Defense form and explains its contents, which is a different thing from telling you whether your circumstances qualify or whether a reviewer will accept your copy. Direct questions of eligibility, applicability and procedure to not stated, to your servicing personnel office, or to the office designated 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?