How to Fill Out and Submit VA Form 21P-530EZ for Burial Benefits

VA Form 21P-530EZ is the application a surviving spouse, child, parent, or estate representative uses to ask the Department of Veterans Affairs to reimburse a veteran’s burial, funeral, plot, and transportation costs. You can file it online at VA.gov or mail the completed paper form to the VA Pension Claims Intake Center, P.O. Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365. For non-service-connected deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2025, the VA pays up to $1,002 for burial expenses and up to $1,002 for a plot. Service-connected deaths qualify for a higher amount.

Who Can File

Federal regulation sets a priority order, and the VA pays the first living person on the list who submits a claim:

Surviving spouse, or the survivor of a legal union with the veteran
Children of the veteran, regardless of age
Parents or surviving parent
Executor or administrator of the veteran’s estate, or, if none has been appointed, someone acting on behalf of the estate who will distribute the funds appropriately

A funeral home, corporation, or state agency can also file in certain situations, such as when the veteran’s remains were unclaimed. Firm, corporate, and state agency claimants do not need to list a Social Security number or date of birth on the application.¹

Whether the Veteran Qualifies

Two things have to be true: the veteran’s discharge was not dishonorable, and the death fits one of the categories below. The category also decides how much the VA pays.

Service-Connected Death

The VA pays a burial allowance when the veteran died from a disability caused or worsened by active-duty service. If the veteran was rated totally disabled for a service-connected condition at the time of death, the VA presumes the death was service-connected unless it has evidence otherwise.² Under federal law, the payment is the greater of $2,000 or the amount authorized for a federal employee who dies from a work-related injury. The service-connected allowance replaces the standard burial and plot allowances rather than adding to them.³

Non-Service-Connected Death

For deaths unrelated to service, the veteran must have met at least one of these conditions when they died:

Was receiving VA pension or disability compensation
Would have been receiving disability compensation but took military retired pay instead
Had a pending claim for pension or disability compensation that, once processed, would have been granted effective before the date of death

That last condition is easy to overlook. A veteran who died with an open VA claim can still generate a burial benefit if the evidence supports granting the underlying claim retroactively.⁴

Death While Hospitalized by VA

A separate allowance applies when a veteran died under VA medical care, even if the death was not service-connected. This includes admission to a VA medical center, transfer to a non-VA facility under VA authority, placement in a VA-contracted nursing home, and travel at VA expense to or from an examination or treatment. It also covers veterans on authorized absence of up to 96 hours from a VA facility at the time of death.⁵

Deaths That Do Not Qualify

The VA does not pay a burial allowance under this form when a service member died on active duty, while serving as a member of Congress, or while serving a federal prison sentence. Active-duty deaths are handled through a separate military program.⁶

Filing Deadline

The VA must receive a non-service-connected burial claim within two years after the veteran’s burial. Miss that window and the claim is barred no matter how strong the evidence. There is no time limit for service-connected death claims or for transportation allowance claims tied to a service-connected death.⁷⁶

What to Have in Front of You

Before you open the form, pull together the veteran’s DD-214 or other discharge papers, Social Security number, VA file number (if one exists), and the death certificate. If you paid transportation costs, gather receipts on the provider’s letterhead showing who paid, the veteran’s name, the specific expenses, and the dates of service. Having everything on hand prevents the back-and-forth that stalls most claims.

Filling Out the Five Sections

You can download a fillable PDF from the VA’s forms page, or complete the same fields online at VA.gov.

Section I: Veteran Information

Enter the veteran’s full legal name, Social Security number, VA file number, date of birth, date of death, and date of burial. Leave the VA file number blank if you do not know it; the VA can find it from the Social Security number and service records. Match the dates of death and burial exactly to the death certificate. Mismatches here are one of the most common reasons a claim stalls.¹

Section II: Claimant Information

Identify yourself as the person requesting reimbursement. Fill in your name, Social Security number, date of birth, mailing address, phone number, and email. Then check the box that describes your relationship to the veteran: spouse or survivor of a legal union, child, parent, executor or administrator, funeral home, or other relative or friend. That relationship sets your priority under the payment order in 38 CFR 3.1702.⁸

Section III: Service Information

Enter the dates and places the veteran entered and separated from active service, along with their service number, rank, and branch. The DD-214 has all of this. If the veteran served under a different name, note the name and the service period it covers.

Section IV: Final Resting Place

Say where the veteran’s remains are located: a cemetery, private residence, mausoleum, or other location. Answer whether the burial was in a national cemetery, a state veterans cemetery, or tribal trust land. If a federal or state government or the veteran’s former employer contributed to the burial costs, report the amount. The VA subtracts government and employer contributions when it calculates your reimbursement.¹

Section V: Burial Allowance Claim

Select the type of allowance you are claiming: non-service-connected, service-connected, or unclaimed remains. Indicate where the death occurred: a nursing home not paid by VA, a VA-contracted facility, a VA medical center, a state veterans facility, or somewhere else. Your answers here determine the allowance category, the payable amount, and what additional evidence the VA needs. If you are the veteran’s surviving spouse, the form also asks whether you previously received a burial allowance from the VA. Confirm that you are responsible for the burial expenses, and certify under penalty of law that the information is true and complete.

Supporting Documents to Attach

Three things have to accompany any burial claim: the completed application, proof of the veteran’s death, and a statement that you actually paid the costs.⁷ A certified death certificate is the easiest proof of death, though the VA also accepts other public death records, a coroner’s report, or, for deaths at VA facilities, a clinical summary signed by a medical officer.⁹

For transportation reimbursement, submit documentation on the provider’s letterhead identifying the payer, the veteran, the specific transportation expenses, and the service dates. Generic receipts that do not break out transportation costs separately will slow the claim.⁷ There is no fixed cap published for transportation. The VA reimburses actual costs when the remains are moved to a national cemetery, or to the nearest national cemetery if the veteran died while hospitalized by VA or while traveling to VA-authorized care.⁶

For a service-connected claim, include evidence linking the death to the service-connected condition, such as a medical opinion or the terminal diagnosis. If the veteran was already rated totally disabled for a service-connected condition, the rating decision letter alone may be enough because the VA presumes the death was service-connected.²

Submitting the Application

You have two ways to file:

Online at VA.gov. The online application walks through the same fields as the paper form and gives you immediate confirmation the VA received your claim.
By mail to the VA Pension Claims Intake Center, P.O. Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365. Send the completed paper form with all supporting documents.

If you mail the form, copy everything first. The VA will not return original documents, and the form’s instructions note that you will not receive an initial acknowledgment letter after submission.¹

After You File

The VA has shortened processing times for burial claims. The average completion time recently dropped from 70 days to 31 days.¹⁰ Your actual timeline depends on whether the VA already has the veteran’s service records on file and whether your supporting documents are complete. Missing or unclear evidence is the most reliable way to push a straightforward claim past the 30-day mark.

Check status online with the VA’s claim status tool at VA.gov/claim-or-appeal-status, using a Login.gov or ID.me account. By phone, call 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711), Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.¹¹ Once approved, the VA pays by direct deposit to the account you listed on the form, or by paper check to your mailing address if you did not provide banking information.

Related Benefits to Request at the Same Time

Form 21P-530EZ only handles monetary reimbursement. Two other burial benefits use separate forms and are worth requesting alongside your claim.

The VA provides a headstone or marker at no cost for any eligible veteran buried in a private cemetery. For veterans who died on or after November 1, 1990, the benefit applies whether or not the grave is already marked with a privately purchased headstone. For deaths before that date, it is limited to unmarked graves. Submit VA Form 40-1330 to the National Cemetery Administration with copies (not originals) of the discharge documents and death certificate.¹²¹³

The VA also issues one United States flag per deceased veteran to drape the casket or accompany the urn. Complete VA Form 27-2008 and submit it to any VA regional office or U.S. Post Office. For burials in a national, state, or military post cemetery, the funeral home typically provides the flag automatically.¹⁴¹⁵

1
Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 21P-530EZ Application for Burial Benefits
2
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1704 – Eligibility for Service-Connected Burial Allowance
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 2307 – Burial Benefits for Service-Connected Deaths
4
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1705 – Non-Service-Connected Burial Allowance
5
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1706 – Burial Allowance Based on Death While Hospitalized by VA
6
Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits
7
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1703 – Claims for Burial Benefits
8
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1702 – Persons Who May Receive Burial Benefits
9
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.211 – Death
10
Veterans Affairs. VA Announces Major Improvements in Benefits Processing and Delivery
11
Veterans Affairs. Claim Status Tool FAQs
12
Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 40-1330 – Claim for Standard Government Headstone or Marker
13
National Cemetery Administration. Order a Headstone, Marker or Medallion for a Veteran
14
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes
15
Veterans Affairs. Burial Flags To Honor Veterans and Reservists