Posthumous awards and the Spirit of the Eagle Award

Two independent branches from one point: a rank or award earned before death and received posthumously, and the honorary Spirit of the Eagle Award with its six-month deadline.

33 steps. 12 steps depend on questions you have not answered yet. · About Posthumous Awards and the Spirit of the Eagle Award

Which of this applies to you

You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan — everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 2 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.

Answer the questions

17 steps can be started now; 13 are waiting on something else.

Clear ticks

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The steps

Stage 1 of 12

15 steps, 1 ticked

  • 5.0.6.0. A registered youth member has died

    The starting point for everything below. Two separate recognitions may follow, and which of them applies is not a matter of choosing one.

    Milestone

  • 5.0.6.0. Any youth member, in any Scouting America program

    The topic is not limited to Scouts BSA or to any one rank. A youth member in any Scouting America program, and any rank or award in it, is within scope.

    Requirement

  • 5.0.6.0. Including age and service Often forgotten

    The Guide names these two explicitly inside the condition, which is worth noticing: age and time-based service requirements are met or they are not, and being close to them is not meeting them.

    Requirement

    The phrase most often skimmed. Age and service are named inside the condition on purpose: a rank whose service months were still running when the member died is a rank whose requirements were not met, however close it was.

  • 8.0.0.0. By the ordinary methods for boards of review May not apply

    It is held according to the methods set out in the boards of review section. There is no separate posthumous procedure to learn; the board is composed and conducted the way any board of that rank would be.

    Requirement

    You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

  • 8.0.1.6. Permitted where all requirements were met prior to death May not apply

    Stated plainly in the boards of review section as well: a board of review may be conducted posthumously if all the requirements were met before the Scout died.

    Requirement

    You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

  • 5.0.6.0. Invite parents or guardians and friends Recommended May not apply

    The Guide calls it appropriate to invite them to the board. It is offered as fitting, not imposed as a requirement, and the family decides whether it is something they want.

    Task

    You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

  • 5.0.6.0. To discuss the efforts made toward the rank May not apply

    That is the purpose the Guide gives for the invitation. The board is not examining anybody; it is a room in which the work is talked about by the people who watched it being done.

    Requirement

    You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

  • 8.0.3.1. Up to 24 months after the 18th birthday, without special approval May not apply

    An Eagle Scout board of review may occur without special approval up to 24 months after the 18th birthday, provided every other requirement was completed before that birthday.

    Requirement

    You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

  • 8.0.3.1. Beyond 24 months, a Belated Rank Application May not apply

    To hold a board beyond 24 months after the 18th birthday, a Belated Rank Application must be submitted. The candidate, a parent or guardian, the unit leader or a unit committee member may submit it.

    Document

    You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

  • 5.0.6.0. This is what changes the congratulatory letter May not apply

    The cover letter triggers changes to the congratulatory letter returned with the pocket card and the certificate. That is its whole function, and it is why leaving it out is not a paperwork slip.

    Requirement

    You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

  • 5.0.7.0. It is honorary, and it is NOT the Eagle Scout rank Often forgotten

    The Guide describes it as an honorary posthumous recognition. Nothing about it is earned, nothing about it is advancement, and the name is the reason it needs saying out loud to a family.

    Requirement

    Say this plainly and early. The name contains "Eagle" and families reasonably hear it as the rank being granted. It is an honorary recognition offered by the National Court of Honor, and describing it as the Eagle Scout rank sets up a second disappointment on top of the first.

  • 5.0.7.0. Offered by the National Court of Honor

    The award is offered by the National Court of Honor. The local council handles the application, but the recognition itself comes from the national body.

    Requirement

  • 5.0.7.0. A final salute, and public recognition of what they contributed

    The Guide gives the award two purposes: a final salute and tribute in celebration of the recipient's life, and public recognition of their contributions to the mission of Scouting.

    Requirement

  • 5.0.7.0. Through illness or accident

    Those are the two causes the Guide names. Where the circumstances are something else, the question belongs with the local council rather than with a checklist.

    Requirement

  • 5.0.7.0. The six months run from the date of death

    Not from the funeral, and not from the point at which the unit committee first hears about the award. The Guide measures the window from the member's death.

    Requirement

Stage 2 of 12

1 step, all ticked

Stage 3 of 12

2 steps

Stage 4 of 12

2 steps

  • 5.0.6.0. The requirements were met before death Often forgotten

    This is the whole condition. The member must have met the requirements for the rank or award prior to death. Where that is so, it may be received posthumously.

    Requirement

    Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. A rank or award already earned may be received posthumously.

    The condition is that the requirements were met, not nearly met. The Guide describes no route for completing outstanding work on a member's behalf, and this plan does not offer one, because nobody has the authority to. Where the requirements were not finished, the recognition the Guide does offer is on the other branch, and it asks for no advancement at all.

  • 5.0.7.0. For registered youth members who lost their lives

    The Guide states the eligibility in one sentence: registered youth members who have lost their lives through illness or accident. It states no advancement condition of any kind.

    Requirement

    Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. The Spirit of the Eagle Award.

Stage 5 of 12

2 steps

  • 5.0.6.0. Was the board of review the rank needed already held?

    Ranks that require a board of review still require it. If one was held before the member died there is nothing more to arrange; if it was not, it is held now rather than treated as a bar.

    Decision

    Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. The requirements were met before death.

  • 5.0.7.0. Get the application from Awards Central

    The Guide gives the address of the application directly. Awards Central is also where the wider awards and recognitions material lives, and the forms library carries the submission details for most awards.

    Document

    Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. For registered youth members who lost their lives.

Stage 6 of 12

2 steps

  • 5.0.6.0. The ordinary Eagle board of review timing still applies May not apply Often forgotten

    The Guide says so directly: the same procedures regarding the timing of an Eagle Scout board of review apply in posthumous cases. Nothing about the circumstances suspends them.

    Requirement

    You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

    Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Was the board of review the rank needed already held?.

    There is no dispensation because the case is posthumous. The Guide states that the same timing procedures apply, which means an Eagle board more than 24 months after the 18th birthday needs a Belated Rank Application here exactly as it would anywhere else.

  • 5.0.7.0. A unit committee completes the application Often forgotten

    The Guide names who does this: a unit committee. Not the family, not the council, and not an individual leader acting alone.

    Requirement

    Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. Get the application from Awards Central.

    Easy to get wrong in the direction of kindness. A grieving family should not be the ones filling in the form, and a council cannot originate it either — the Guide puts it on the unit committee.

Stage 7 of 12

2 steps

  • 5.0.6.0. The board of review is held posthumously May not apply Often forgotten

    Where a required board of review has not been conducted, it is held. The Guide states this in two separate places rather than leaving it to be inferred.

    Event

    You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

    Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Was the board of review the rank needed already held?.

  • 5.0.7.0. Submit it to the local council within six months of the death Often forgotten

    The completed application goes to the local council, and it must get there within six months of the member's death. This is the only fixed date anywhere in either topic.

    Task

    Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. A unit committee completes the application.

    Six months from the date of death. The Guide states the limit and describes no procedure for an application made after it, so treat the six months as the whole of the window. If a unit is close to it, submit what is complete and speak to the council rather than waiting for something to be perfect.

Stage 8 of 12

2 steps, 1 ticked

Stage 9 of 12

2 steps

Stage 10 of 12

1 step

  • 5.0.6.0. It must be sent to the National Program Committee for processing May not apply

    Having been verified, the application must go to the National Program Committee or their designee. This is the step that distinguishes a posthumous Eagle application from an ordinary one at council level.

    Task

    You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

    Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. The application is verified at the council service center.

Stage 11 of 12

1 step

  • 5.0.6.0. A cover letter must indicate that it is posthumous May not apply Often forgotten

    A cover letter from the Scout executive or designee must accompany the application and say that the case is posthumous. Without it nothing downstream knows.

    Document

    You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

    Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. It must be sent to the National Program Committee for processing.

    The most avoidable failure in this whole plan, and the one the family will be the ones to discover. Without the cover letter marking the case posthumous, what comes back is the ordinary congratulatory letter, addressed to a living Scout, in the present tense.

Stage 12 of 12

1 step

This plan follows version 1, published 8 August 2026. It is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.