(a) When required. (1) All claims will be acted on prior to being closed except for those that are transferred. For claims on which suit is filed before final action, see § 536.66. A settlement authority may deny or pay in full or in part any claim in a stated amount within his or her delegated authority. An approval authority may pay in full or in part, but may not deny, a claim in a stated amount within his or her delegated authority. If any one claim arising out of the same incident exceeds a settlement or approval authority's monetary jurisdiction, all claims from that incident will be forwarded to the authority having jurisdiction.

(2) In any claim which must be supported by an expert opinion as to duty, negligence, causation or damages, an expert opinion must be submitted upon request. All opinions must meet the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

(3) An action memorandum is required for all final actions regardless of whether payment is made electronically. The memorandum will contain a sufficient rendition of the facts, law or damages to justify the action being taken. (A model action is posted on the USARCS Web site; for the address see § 536.2(a).)

(b) Memorandum of Opinion. Upon completion of the investigation, the ACO or CPO will prepare a memorandum of opinion in the format prescribed at DA Pam 27-162, when a claim is forwarded to USARCS for action. This requirement can be waived by the USARCS AAO.

(c) Claim brought by a claims authority or superior. A claim filed by an approval or settlement authority or his or her superior officer in the chain of command or a family member of either will be investigated and forwarded for final action, without recommendation, to the next higher settlement authority (in an overseas area, this includes a command claims service) or to USARCS.