Veteran Burial and Memorial Benefits: What Your Family Is Owed

If you are reading this because someone you love has died, or because you are a veteran making sure your family will not have to guess, you are in the right place. Burial and memorial benefits are among the most generous the VA offers, and among the least understood at the moment they are needed. Almost everything below is provided at no cost. The hard part is not paying for it, it is knowing to ask, and knowing which short form unlocks which benefit. We have laid it out in the order a family actually needs it.

Every rate and rule below was verified against VA.gov and the National Cemetery Administration on July 10, 2026. Burial allowance amounts change each October 1 with the cost-of-living adjustment; the figures here are effective for deaths on or after October 1, 2025. Confirm current amounts before you rely on them.

Burial in a national cemetery, at no cost to the family

A veteran who did not receive a dishonorable discharge is eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, and so is that veteran’s spouse or surviving spouse, even if the spouse remarried after the veteran’s death, and in many cases a minor child or an unmarried adult dependent child. The eligibility is a family benefit, not just the veteran’s.

Burial in a national cemetery is provided at no cost to the family. That includes the gravesite itself, the opening and closing of the grave, a government headstone or marker, a burial flag, perpetual care of the grave, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate. A spouse or dependent can be buried in the same gravesite. What the family typically still pays for on its own are the things a funeral home provides before the burial, such as the casket or urn, preparation, and transportation to the cemetery, and some of those costs may be reimbursed through the burial allowance covered below.

The one form to file before you need it

The single most useful thing a veteran can do for their family is a pre-need eligibility determination, on VA Form 40-10007. You submit it while the veteran is alive and well, the VA reviews the service record, and it sends back a letter confirming eligibility for national cemetery burial. When the day comes, the family hands that letter to the funeral director instead of hunting for discharge papers during the worst week of their lives. It costs nothing, it does not commit anyone to anything, and it removes the one question that most often stalls a burial. If you do nothing else after reading this guide, do this.

The burial allowances, and what they actually cover

Separate from the free burial itself, the VA pays a burial allowance to help with funeral and burial costs, governed by 38 CFR 3.1704 and the sections that follow it. The amount depends on whether the death was connected to service.

• Service-connected death. If the veteran died from a service-connected condition, the VA pays up to $2,000 toward burial expenses for deaths on or after September 11, 2001, per the VA burial allowance page. This is the same principle behind DIC: a service-connected death carries the higher benefit.
• Non-service-connected death. For a death not tied to service, the VA pays a $1,002 burial allowance for deaths on or after October 1, 2025, plus a $1,002 plot or interment allowance if the veteran is buried in a private cemetery rather than a national one. Both figures step up each October 1.
• Transportation. If the veteran died in a VA facility or while traveling under VA authorization, the VA may also reimburse the cost of moving the remains.

You claim the allowance after the burial, and a claim filed by a surviving spouse is often paid automatically once VA has the death on record. If no eligible survivor claims it, whoever paid the funeral bill can file for reimbursement.

Headstones, markers, and medallions for a private cemetery

If the family chooses a private cemetery instead of a national one, the VA still furnishes a government headstone or marker at no cost, through its headstones and markers program on VA Form 40-1330. You choose the style and inscription. The one cost the family carries in a private cemetery is setting the marker in place, which the cemetery handles at private expense.

If the family has already bought a private headstone and prefers to keep it, the VA offers a bronze medallion instead, on VA Form 40-1330M. It affixes to the existing marker and identifies the grave as a veteran’s. You take one or the other, the government marker or the medallion, not both.

The flag and the Presidential Memorial Certificate

Every eligible veteran is entitled to a United States burial flag to drape the casket or accompany the urn, and the family keeps it afterward. You request it on VA Form 27-2008, and a funeral director, any VA regional office, or a U.S. Post Office can furnish the flag on the spot.

The Presidential Memorial Certificate is an engraved certificate signed by the current president, honoring the veteran’s service. It is free, families are given one automatically at a national cemetery burial, and any next of kin, family member, or close friend can request additional copies on VA Form 40-0247.

Military funeral honors, and who arranges them

By law, every eligible veteran may receive military funeral honors: a detail of at least two uniformed service members, one from the veteran’s own branch, who fold and present the flag to the next of kin and sound Taps, live or recorded. This is the moment most families remember most.

The key thing to know is who asks for it. The funeral director requests military funeral honors on the family’s behalf, so the one thing you need to do is tell the funeral home you want them. The VA recommends arranging honors 48 to 72 hours before the service. Veterans service organizations can add elements such as a rifle detail or pallbearers, and national cemetery staff can help coordinate honors at a VA cemetery.

The first week: what to have on hand

You do not need to gather everything at once, but a few documents unlock almost every benefit above, and finding them early spares the family a scramble:

• The veteran’s DD-214 (discharge papers). This is the master key. The pre-need determination exists so you never have to find it under pressure.
• Several certified copies of the death certificate. Order more than you think you need; the cemetery, the burial allowance claim, and survivor benefits each want one.
• The marriage certificate, if a spouse is claiming, and birth certificates for any dependent children.
• Any VA award or rating letters, which help establish a service-connected death and the survivor benefits that follow.

Those same documents carry over into the benefit that matters most for the long run. Burial benefits close out the funeral; Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is the monthly, tax-free check the VA may owe a surviving spouse or child for years afterward. File for both. They are separate claims, and a family can qualify for the survivor payment even when it did not expect to.

You should not have to arrange this alone

Two free resources exist for exactly this week. The VA National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-800-535-1117 arranges burial in a national cemetery, confirms eligibility, and assigns the gravesite, and the funeral home you choose will coordinate directly with them. And a free VA-accredited representative or VSO will file the burial allowance and survivor claims for you, at no charge, so nothing eligible is left unclaimed while your family grieves. VeteranPlug is an independent reference, not affiliated with VA. We keep these pages accurate so that, on the hardest week, the paperwork is the smallest part of it.