VA Burial Benefits Fact Sheet: Eligibility, Allowances, and Honors

VA burial benefits cover a veteran’s gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and military funeral honors at any national cemetery with available space, all at no cost to the family. For burials in private cemeteries, the VA pays cash allowances instead. For non-service-connected deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2025, that is up to $1,002 for burial costs plus a separate $1,002 for plot or interment expenses.¹ For a death caused by a service-connected disability, the allowance goes up to $2,000.²

Who Qualifies

The baseline requirement is a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable. Honorable, general, and uncharacterized discharges all count. The veteran must have completed at least one period of active duty service.³

National Guard and Reserve members qualify if they were entitled to retirement pay at the time of death, died while on active duty or training duty, or had a service-connected disability.³

Eligibility for a national cemetery plot and eligibility for the cash burial allowance are two separate questions. Any eligible veteran can be buried in a national cemetery, but the non-service-connected cash allowance has additional conditions. At the time of death, the veteran must have met at least one of the following:

Been receiving VA pension or disability compensation payments.
Been entitled to VA disability compensation but not receiving it because of an offset from military retired pay.
Had a pending claim for pension or disability compensation, with evidence supporting the benefit effective before the date of death.

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For the service-connected allowance, the veteran must have died from a disability related to military service, died while receiving VA care or traveling to a VA facility for authorized treatment, or died on active duty.¹

Spouses and Dependent Children

A veteran’s spouse, surviving spouse, minor children, and certain adult children with disabilities can be buried alongside the veteran in a national cemetery at no cost. There is no charge for the gravesite, the opening and closing, or perpetual care, and the family member’s name and dates go on the veteran’s headstone.³

A spouse who dies before the veteran remains eligible. A surviving spouse who remarried a non-veteran and died on or after January 1, 2000 also keeps eligibility based on the earlier marriage. Minor children qualify if they are unmarried and under 21, or under 23 and enrolled full-time at an approved school. An unmarried adult child of any age qualifies if a disability preventing self-support began before age 21 (or 23 for a full-time student), and medical documentation is required.⁵

What a National Cemetery Burial Covers

Burial in a VA national cemetery comes with a package of services at no cost to the family:

A gravesite in any national cemetery with available space.
Opening and closing of the grave, or placement of the urn.
Perpetual care of the gravesite.
A government-furnished headstone or marker with an approved inscription.
A U.S. burial flag.

What is not covered: funeral home charges. Anything you buy from a funeral director or cremation provider stays your expense, though the cash allowances can offset some of it.

Private cemeteries work differently. You pay for the plot, opening and closing (roughly $1,000 to $3,000 at most private cemeteries), and every other service. The VA’s burial and plot allowances are meant to partially offset those costs.

Cash Allowances

Service-Connected Deaths

When a veteran dies from a service-connected disability, the VA pays up to $2,000 toward burial and funeral expenses for deaths occurring on or after September 11, 2001.² The statute sets the payment at the greater of $2,000 or the amount payable for a federal employee who dies from a work-related injury, so it can be higher. No filing deadline applies.

Non-Service-Connected Deaths

For non-service-connected deaths on or after October 1, 2025, the VA pays two separate allowances: up to $1,002 for burial expenses and up to $1,002 for plot or interment costs.¹ The amounts adjust annually. The plot allowance only applies when the veteran is buried somewhere other than a national cemetery or a cemetery under U.S. government jurisdiction, since those burials already include a gravesite at no cost.

Transportation

The VA reimburses reasonable transportation costs when a veteran’s remains are moved to a national cemetery or a state or tribal veterans cemetery. Reasonable means the usual charges a carrier would bill the public, including shipment, permits, a shipping case, and applicable taxes.⁶ For veterans who died outside of a state, payment is capped at the cost of transport to the nearest national cemetery with space.

Taxes

VA burial allowances are not taxable income. The IRS excludes all veterans’ benefits administered by the VA from gross income.⁷

Headstones, Markers, and Medallions

The VA furnishes a government headstone or marker at no cost for the unmarked grave of any eligible veteran, in any cemetery worldwide.⁸ For a national cemetery, the cemetery staff orders the headstone using information from the family. For a private cemetery, the family applies with VA Form 40-1330. The VA ships the marker, but the cost of setting it into the ground falls on the family or the cemetery.

If a private cemetery grave already has a privately purchased headstone, the family can request a bronze medallion to attach to the existing marker. To qualify, the veteran must have served on or after April 6, 1917, been buried in a private cemetery, and received a discharge under honorable conditions.⁹ Spouses and dependent children buried in private cemeteries do not qualify for their own headstone, but their information can be added to the veteran’s marker.

Burial Flag and Presidential Memorial Certificate

The VA provides a U.S. flag at no cost to drape the casket or accompany the urn of any veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. It is typically presented to the next of kin or a close friend after the service.³

Families can also request a Presidential Memorial Certificate, an engraved certificate signed by the sitting president. There is no limit on how many a family can request, and multiple family members can each receive one.⁸

Military Funeral Honors

Federal law requires the Department of Defense to provide a funeral honors detail for any eligible veteran on request. The ceremony includes, at minimum, the folding and presentation of the American flag and the playing of Taps. If no live bugler is available, the detail plays a recorded version.¹⁰

The detail includes at least two armed forces members, with one representing the veteran’s branch. Families do not book it directly. The funeral director or a personal representative contacts the appropriate military branch at least 48 to 72 hours before the service. For burials at a VA national cemetery, the cemetery staff can help coordinate honors.¹¹

How to File a Claim

The claim for cash burial and plot allowances is filed on VA Form 21P-530EZ. A wide range of people can file: a surviving spouse, a child or parent of the veteran, the executor of the estate, a friend, or a representative from a funeral home or cemetery that paid the expenses.¹

You will need:

An official death certificate showing the cause of death.
The veteran’s DD Form 214 covering all service periods. The VA will try to locate records if you don’t have a copy, but providing one speeds up processing.
Itemized receipts for funeral services and any transportation costs.

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You can submit the application online at VA.gov, by mail to the Pension Intake Center (PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365), or in person at a VA regional office or medical center.¹

Deadlines

For non-service-connected deaths, you must file within two years of the veteran’s burial or cremation.¹ There is no filing deadline for a service-connected death claim.

If a Claim Is Denied

A denial letter will explain the reason and lay out the options. You have three paths, and each must be started within one year of the decision:

A Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995) if you have new evidence, such as medical records linking the death to service or documentation missing from the original application.
A Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996) when you believe the VA misread the existing evidence. A senior reviewer takes a fresh look at the same file.
A Board Appeal (VA Form 10182) directly to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, with options to submit new evidence, request a hearing, or have the Board decide on the existing record.

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Missing the one-year window doesn’t necessarily bar relief, but it resets the effective date, which can affect back payments on related benefits.

Confirming Eligibility Before a Death

You do not have to wait until a death to find out whether a veteran qualifies for national cemetery burial. The VA offers a pre-need eligibility determination that settles the question in advance.¹⁴

Submit VA Form 40-10007 online, by mail to the NCA Evidence Intake Center (PO Box 5237, Janesville, WI 53547), or by fax to 855-840-8299. You will need the veteran’s personal information and service history. A copy of the DD Form 214 speeds processing.¹⁵

A pre-need determination covers VA national cemeteries only. For Arlington National Cemetery, contact Arlington directly. For state or tribal veterans cemeteries, contact that cemetery about its own pre-need process. The VA cannot guarantee burial in a preferred cemetery; if space is unavailable at the time of need, the family selects another national cemetery with open plots.¹⁴

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 2307 – Death From Service-Connected Disability
3
National Cemetery Administration. Burial and Memorial Benefits
4
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1705 – Burial Allowance Based on Non-Service-Connected Death
5
National Cemetery Administration. Eligibility – Persons Eligible for Burial in a National Cemetery
6
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1709 – Transportation Expenses for Burial
7
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income
8
National Cemetery Administration. Headstones, Markers, and Medallions
9
Veterans Affairs. Veterans Headstones, Markers, Plaques and Urns
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1491 – Funeral Honors Functions at Funerals for Veterans
11
National Cemetery Administration. Military Funeral Honors
12
Veterans Affairs. Application for Burial Benefits (VA Form 21P-530EZ)
13
Veterans Health Administration. Claims and Appeals Process
14
Veterans Affairs. Pre-Need Eligibility for Burial in a VA Cemetery
15
Veterans Affairs. About VA Form VA40-10007