You need DD Form 2656-8, and this page gives you the blank plus the steps for handling it. Start with what the form does: Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Automatic Coverage Fact Sheet. Its official title is DD Form 2656-8, SBP Automatic Coverage Fact Sheet, 20110106 draft.
Next, check the edition. You want not stated, currently carried as not stated by the publisher. Then confirm the form applies to you — this is a Department of Defense form, so you use it whether you serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force or Coast Guard under Defense jurisdiction.
Then settle the schedule. You are working under not stated, with not stated responsible for the document, and your organization layers its own deadlines on that. Ask before you assume a date.
Before you download, pick your approach — editable file or printed page. What follows covers the formats first, then the entries, then what you do afterward.
Now fill it in. Work from the top of the page downward, and do not jump ahead — the identifying block comes first, the substance of your entry second, the certification last. Later boxes often depend on what you put at the top.
Check the edition before you type a word. The date appears on the face of the form; it should read not stated. When it does not, discard the file and take a fresh copy from this page. Department-level revisions replace the blank across all services simultaneously, which means an old printout can be out of step everywhere.
Work through the fields one at a time and leave nothing blank. When a box does not apply to you, write N/A rather than skipping it, so the reviewer can see you read the question. Follow the date format printed beside each date field instead of the one you normally use.
Stop at the Privacy Act Statement and read it through. You will find the authority for the collection, the principal purpose, the routine uses, and whether disclosure is voluntary or mandatory. Read it now, while you still have the choice of what to disclose.
Sign only after every other entry is complete. Use ink on a printed copy, or a credentialed digital signature — CAC-based, in a reader that handles it — on an electronic one. A typed name satisfies neither method. Enter the date next to it before you close the file.
Review before you submit. Look for a superseded edition, blank mandatory fields, illegible writing, dates in the wrong format, and an unsigned or undated certification.
Look up an unclear item on the form face before anywhere else, then in not stated. Should the two texts conflict, the directive is the one you follow.
Download the form
Step one is picking the format. You have PDF to choose from, across 1 pages, with approximately 38 fields to complete.
Download the pdf first. After it opens, test a field with your cursor. Fillable means you type, tab to the next box, and save your work inside the file. Printable means the page is a flat blank, so print it and write your answers in ink.
Type when you can. Printed entries stay legible after the form is scanned, copied and forwarded, and handwriting often does not survive that trip. If you must write by hand, use block capitals and press firmly.
Handle xfdl in two steps. First confirm you have IBM Lotus Forms Viewer or a compatible reader on your machine; ordinary pdf software will report the file as broken. Once the viewer is running, download and fill the form.
You will not be charged for any of these; the whole set is free. Before you start entering data, save the file to your computer and open it there. Fields behave far more reliably in a desktop reader than in a browser preview.
What the form asks for
- 1. Member's Name (Last, First, Middle initial)
- 2. Social Security Number. Do not include dashes.
- 3. Date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 4. Are you married? Press space bar to mark X in first box if yes, second box if no.
- 5. Do you have any dependent children? X first box if yes, second box if no.
- 6.a. Spouse's name (last, first, middle initial).
- 6.b. Social Security Number.
- 6.c. Date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6.d. Date of marriage (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6.e. Place of marriage (city, county, state).
- 7. Dependent children. a. Name (last, first, middle initial). Line 1 of 6.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
- 7.c. Child's date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 7.d. Relationship (natural, step, adopted, foster).
- 7.a. Name of dependent child, line 2.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
- 7.c. Child's date of birth.
- 7.d. Relationship.
- 7.a. Name of dependent child, line 3.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
- 7.c. Child's date of birth.
- 7.d. Relationship.
- 7.a. Name of dependent child, line 4.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
Submit the completed form through the channel not stated or your local guidance specifies. Save a copy for yourself before it leaves your hands, whether that means a scan, a photograph or a duplicate file.
If the form points you to another document, you can find it by number alone. DD numbering runs across the whole Department, so you do not need to work out which service issued it — one number, one form, everywhere.
Be careful when a procedure pairs this form with a service form. Read the prefix, not just the digits. Service forms answer to a service proponent, while DD forms answer to not stated or an equivalent Department office, and the two sequences were never aligned. Grabbing the wrong prefix gets you a form that has nothing to do with your task.
Come back and check the edition next time you need this form. Editions change when the prescribing directive is reissued, when the information collected changes, or when the required notice language is updated, and none of those events reaches you directly. Verifying not stated at the moment you download is the whole defence.
Finally, understand the limits of what you have read. This page distributes a published Department of Defense form and describes how to fill it out. It does not give legal or procedural advice, and it cannot promise any outcome for your particular case. For that, contact not stated, your administrative office, or the authority identified in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2656-8?
- DD Form 2656-8, SBP Automatic Coverage Fact Sheet, 20110106 draft
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?