Veterans' burial benefits

What it means

Interment in a national cemetery is available to eligible veterans and, generally, a spouse and dependent children, at no cost for the grave, the opening and closing, and a government headstone or marker.

A marker or medallion is available for a private cemetery instead. A burial flag and a Presidential Memorial Certificate are separate entitlements.

A burial allowance toward funeral and transport costs is available in narrower circumstances, and is claimed rather than paid automatically.

Why it matters

The entitlements are real, substantial, and frequently unclaimed, because nothing prompts a family to ask and funeral arrangements move quickly.

Eligibility turns on the character of service, which is why DD Form 214 is the document to find first.

When you are likely to meet it

• When a veteran or a veteran's spouse dies.
• When arranging a burial or cremation.
• When a funeral director asks about military service.

Related terms

• DD Form 214The discharge document proving military service. Almost every veterans' benefit after a death depends on producing it.
• Death certificateThe official record of a death, issued by a state or local vital records office, and the document nearly every organization will ask to see.
• Direct cremationCremation without a viewing or ceremony beforehand. It is one of the least expensive options a funeral provider must offer.
• Funeral trustMoney set aside to pay for a funeral, held so it cannot be spent and often so it does not count for Medicaid.
• General price listThe itemized list of prices a funeral provider must hand you to keep, as soon as arrangements are discussed in person.
• Immediate burialBurial shortly after death without embalming, viewing or a ceremony at the funeral home.
• Survivor benefitA continuing payment to a spouse, child or other dependant after somebody dies — from Social Security, a pension, or an annuity.

Official sources

The authority this page describes, at the agency that publishes it. Sahvelo does not restate a rule from a secondary source.

• VA — burials and memorials (opens in a new tab)

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Veterans' benefits
• Funeral price rights