Veterans' burial benefits: what the VA pays

If the person who died served in the military, stop before you sign anything at the funeral home and find their discharge papers. The Department of Veterans Affairs offers burial benefits that can change what the family pays, and almost all of them start with that document, usually the DD Form 214.

The benefits fall into two groups. The first is a set of things the VA provides. The second is money toward costs the family pays.

What the VA provides

For an eligible veteran buried in a VA national cemetery, the VA provides, at no cost to the family:

• The gravesite, or a space for cremated remains.
• Opening and closing of the grave.
• A grave liner for casketed burial.
• A government headstone or marker.
• Perpetual care of the grave.
• A burial flag.

In many cases a spouse and certain dependent children may also be buried in a national cemetery, even if they die first. The VA's eligibility rules are on VA.gov under burials and memorials.

Note what is not on that list: the funeral home's charges. Transfer of remains, preparation, a casket and any service are still billed to the family by the funeral home.

Burial in a private cemetery

Choosing a private or church cemetery doesn't mean giving up everything. The VA can still provide:

• A government headstone or marker, or a medallion to attach to a privately purchased headstone.
• A burial flag.
• A Presidential Memorial Certificate, signed by the President, for the family.
• Military funeral honors, which by law include at least two uniformed service members, the folding and presentation of the flag, and the playing of Taps. The funeral director usually makes the request.

Money toward burial costs

The VA may pay a burial allowance to help with funeral and burial costs, and sometimes a plot or interment allowance and transportation costs. What is payable depends mainly on one question:

Situation	What may be payable	Time limit to apply
Death was service-connected	A higher burial allowance, plus some transportation costs	No time limit
Death was not service-connected, and the veteran met other conditions (for example, receiving VA pension or compensation, or dying in VA care)	A smaller burial allowance, and possibly a plot or interment allowance	Generally within 2 years after burial
Death in a VA medical center or a VA-contracted facility	Additional amounts, including transportation in some cases	Check the current rules

The dollar amounts are set by law and change with the date of death. I am not printing them here because a stale figure would mislead you. The current amounts are posted on VA.gov's burial allowance page, listed by date of death. Look up the row that matches.

How to claim

The form is VA Form 21P-530EZ, Application for Burial Benefits. You can file online at VA.gov, by mail, or with help from an accredited representative of a veterans service organization, who can help at no charge.

Have these ready:

• The veteran's discharge papers.
• A death certificate.
• Itemized receipts for funeral and burial costs you paid.
• Your relationship to the veteran and proof you paid the costs.

The VA may pay some surviving spouses automatically if the veteran was receiving VA benefits, so read any letter from the VA before filing a duplicate claim.

Planning ahead

A veteran or spouse can apply for a pre-need eligibility determination for burial in a national cemetery using VA Form 40-10007. It does not reserve a specific gravesite, but it settles eligibility in advance, so the family isn't searching for paperwork in the first hard week. Keep the decision letter with the discharge papers.

If the discharge papers are missing

Ask the funeral home first; they request records regularly. Next of kin can request military service records from the National Personnel Records Center through the National Archives. It can take time, so start early, and do not let a missing DD Form 214 stop the funeral. The national cemetery scheduling office can sometimes verify eligibility another way.

The phone number to keep

To schedule a burial in a national cemetery, the funeral home calls the VA's National Cemetery Scheduling Office. You don't need to make that call yourself, but you should make sure someone does. Ask the funeral director, "Have you called the national cemetery scheduling office yet?"