Funeral costs and help

VA burial allowance: what is paid, for which death, and who claims

Choose the kind of death and its date to see the most the VA pays toward the burial, the plot and a headstone, and whether Social Security adds its lump sum.

Independent site, not an insurer or a broker, and not a funeral home or a government agency.

VA burial allowance for one veteran

Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours

Most the VA pays toward it

$2,064

Burial allowance$1,032
Plot or interment allowance$1,032
Headstone or marker allowancenot claimed
Social Security lump sum$255

Maximum amounts from va.gov. The person paying must not be repaid by another body, and the conditions of service and discharge apply.

The whole funeral gap

The VA burial allowance helps the person who paid for a veteran’s funeral, if no other body repays them. For a service-connected death, the VA pays up to $2,000 when the veteran died on or after September 11, 2001, and up to $1,500 before that date. For a death that was not service-connected, it pays a burial allowance of $1,032 and a plot or interment allowance of $1,032 for deaths on or after October 1, 2026, when the veteran met one of its conditions, such as receiving a VA pension or compensation, dying in VA care, or having a claim pending. These amounts change every October 1. A headstone or marker allowance of up to $420 can be added. The veteran must not have had a dishonorable discharge. Social Security adds a one-time $255 for an eligible spouse or child. The calculator gives the most that can be paid for a chosen date and kind of death.

Data read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are worked out

Every non-service-connected amount since 2013

The amount depends on the date of death, not the date of the claim. Before January 5, 2023, a veteran who was hospitalized by the VA at the time of death had a higher burial allowance; from that date both tables are the same.

va.gov, Veterans burial allowance and transportation benefits, page updated October 30, 2026, read November 7, 2026.
Date of deathBurial allowancePlot or intermentIf hospitalized by VA
October 1, 2026 to today$1,032$1,032same
October 1, 2025 to October 1, 2026$1,002$1,002same
October 1, 2024 to October 1, 2025$978$978same
October 1, 2023 to October 1, 2024$948$948same
January 5, 2023 to October 1, 2023$893$893same
October 1, 2022 to January 5, 2023$300$893$893 + $893
October 1, 2021 to October 1, 2022$300$828$828 + $828
October 1, 2020 to October 1, 2021$300$807$807 + $807
October 1, 2019 to October 1, 2020$300$796$796 + $796
October 1, 2018 to October 1, 2019$300$780$780 + $780
October 1, 2017 to October 1, 2018$300$762$762 + $762
October 1, 2016 to October 1, 2017$300$749$749 + $749
October 1, 2015 to October 1, 2016$300$747$747 + $747
October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2015$300$745$745 + $745
October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014$300$734$734 + $734

For a service-connected death the allowance is a single sum, $2,000 or $1,500, with no separate plot allowance, and the VA may also repay some or all of the cost of moving the remains to a VA national cemetery.

Headstone or marker allowance

va.gov, headstone or marker allowance amounts based on when the veteran died.
Date of deathMost paid
October 1, 2026 to today$420
October 1, 2025 to October 1, 2026$441
October 1, 2024 to October 1, 2025$371

Who can claim

The VA pays the person or organization that paid for the burial and will not be repaid by anyone else, such as another government agency or the veteran’s employer. That can be a surviving spouse or partner from a legal union, a child, a parent, the executor of the estate, another family member or friend, or a funeral home or cemetery. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge. For a death that was not service-connected, one of these must also be true: the veteran died while getting VA care, or traveling with VA authorization to or from such care, had a claim for compensation or pension pending, was receiving a VA pension or compensation, or was eligible for one but received military retired or disability pay instead.

The VA pays no burial allowance for a death on active duty, while serving as a member of Congress, or while serving a federal prison sentence. It pays for every legal type of burial, including cremation, burial at sea and donation of the body to a medical school.

Against the cost of a funeral

For a veteran whose death was not service-connected, the two allowances together come to $2,064, 25% of the national spending per death at September 2026 prices ($8,219). With the Social Security payment, $2,319. The funeral cost calculator takes them off your state’s figure for you. A veteran may also be buried in a VA national cemetery, and the VA furnishes headstones and markers; the conditions are on va.gov. For a veteran who held VGLI, the VA life insurance plan, its rates are on the term rates by age page.

The amounts on this page are maximums, read on va.gov. The Social Security regulation sets the $255. Only the VA and the Social Security Administration decide a claim.

Questions people ask before they pay for a funeral or a policy

Tap a question to see the answer.

How do I apply for the VA burial allowance?

Online on va.gov, or by mail with VA Form 21P-530EZ, the Application for Burial Benefits, sent to the VA Pension Intake Center. A copy of the death certificate is needed, an itemized receipt for any transport costs, and the VA recommends the veteran’s DD214 or other separation documents. A funeral home can apply when it is the one that paid.

Does a surviving spouse need to apply?

Not always. The VA says a surviving spouse listed on the veteran’s profile does not need to file a claim: when the VA learns of the death, it pays a set amount automatically to eligible spouses to help with the plot, the interment or the transport of the remains. A spouse who paid more than that, or a family member who is not the spouse, files the form.

Is there a time limit to claim VA burial benefits?

For a service-connected death, none. For a death that was not service-connected, the claim must be made within 2 years of the burial, with two exceptions the VA lists: there is no limit if the veteran died in VA care, or if the claim is only for the plot or interment allowance or for transport.

Who gets the Social Security death payment?

The $255 goes first to a widow or widower who was living in the same household as the worker, or who could receive benefits on the worker’s record for the month of death. If there is none, it goes to a child who could receive benefits on that record. It is paid once and must be claimed within 2 years.

Work out next

Funeral cost calculator

What a funeral costs in your state today and at the likely age of death, after the VA allowance, the Social Security $255 and savings.

Cost of cremation

Add up the lines of a cremation price list, take off the VA and Social Security, and set it against your state.

Term life rates by age

The two published federal rate tables, VGLI and IRS Table 2-2, by age, with the chance a term policy pays.

Average funeral cost by state

All 51 states: what funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories took in per death, in 2022 and today.

Census, BLS, NCHS, VA, IRS and eCFR pages behind this page

Worked out by

Independent publisher of US funeral cost and final expense calculators built on Census, BLS, NCHS, VA and IRS data

Figures checked on · Editorial policy · Contact

Federal figures for 2026, last read on . Estimates only, from Census, BLS and NCHS data and VA, SSA and IRS rules: general information, not financial, tax or legal advice.