Veteran Burial Allowance by State: What States and Counties Pay (2026)

A veteran burial allowance from your state or county is separate from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) payment, and in most states we've verified, it's the county that pays. If you're arranging a veteran's funeral, or paying the bill for one that's already happened, these state and county payments are easy to miss: many are tied to whether the veteran left enough to cover the costs, and a few must be claimed within a year or set up before you sign with a funeral home.

In This Guide

• Veteran Burial Allowance by State at a Glance
• States That Pay the Burial Allowance Themselves
• County Veteran Burial Allowances, State by State
• How a State or County Payment Fits With VA's Allowance
• If Your State Isn't Listed Here
• How to Claim a State or County Burial Allowance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Veteran Burial Allowance by State at a Glance

When the funeral bill is on the kitchen table, you want one place to look. This table lists the 19 states whose burial laws we've checked against the statute itself. "Set by county" means the law leaves the amount to local officials, and "no amount in the statute" means the law creates a duty to bury without naming a figure. Neither one means the program pays nothing. "Ask your county" means the law we checked sets no filing deadline.

States That Pay the Burial Allowance Themselves

In these five states, the state either pays the allowance itself or reimburses the city, town or veterans' organization that handles the burial. Wyoming's state program in the table is different: it covers people on POWER, SSI or full Medicaid, not only veterans.4

Connecticut

Connecticut pays $1,800 toward funeral expenses when a veteran dies without enough estate to pay for the last illness and funeral, under Connecticut General Statutes 27-118. The payment goes to the person who paid or arranged the funeral. The claim is due within one year after the death (for a death abroad, one year after the remains are interred in this country). If the veteran turns out to have left an estate, the state can file a claim against it for what the state paid.5

It doesn't require wartime service, and its definition of veteran reaches some other than honorable discharges tied to a qualifying condition, such as PTSD diagnosed at a VA facility.5

South Dakota

Under SDCL 33A-5-2, South Dakota pays up to $100 toward the burial of a veteran, and it covers a veteran's spouse too. To qualify, the veteran must have been a U.S. citizen and a South Dakota resident for one year before entering service or before death, and the surviving spouse or relatives sign an affidavit that the estate can't cover the funeral. Your county or tribal veterans service officer submits the application to the state within one year of the burial.6

Vermont

Vermont's Department for Children and Families arranges and pays for the burial of an honorably discharged veteran who dies in Vermont, or was a Vermont resident, without enough known assets, under 33 V.S.A. § 2301. The payment is capped by department rule, is reduced by other assets from the veteran's estate or spouse, and is paid directly to the funeral director. The law pays only to the extent funds are available and the department's rules allow. When a family makes the arrangements, the funeral director must find out whether the person was an eligible veteran and tell the family about the program, and if the funeral director doesn't, the family isn't liable for those expenses.7

New York

New York's program, under General Municipal Law section 148, isn't a payment to families. It covers a veteran who dies leaving no funds or insurance to pay for a funeral and no next of kin or designated person to arrange one. The county or New York City asks a congressionally chartered veterans' organization to engage a funeral home, and the state reimburses that organization. The statute sets the cap at $2,000 per burial and has the state's Department of Veterans' Services adjust it each year for inflation, publishing the adjusted figure by February 1 each year starting in 2026. It excludes expenses the federal government pays or would pay.8

Massachusetts

Massachusetts works through the veterans' agent in each city and town, who acts as the burial agent under chapter 115, section 7. The agent sees to the burial of a veteran or adult dependent who dies without enough to pay for the funeral, and of a veteran's dependent child when the parents lack the means. Under chapter 115, section 8, the agent spends up to $4,000, the total funeral and burial cost can be up to $5,000, the deceased person's own resources are subtracted, and the state reimburses the city or town 75 percent. If a burial went ahead without the veterans' agent knowing, you have 60 days after the death to apply, so if you can, call the local veterans' agent before the funeral.3

County Veteran Burial Allowances, State by State

In most of the states we've verified, the law puts the job on the county: the statute says who qualifies and sets a floor, a cap or nothing at all, and the county pays. So what a family receives can differ by county.

Indiana

Indiana's allowance under Indiana Code 10-17-10-1 is paid by the county where the deceased lived, in an amount the county sets by ordinance that can't be more than $1,000. It covers an Indiana resident at death who was a veteran discharged under conditions the statute doesn't exclude, a person who died while serving, or the spouse or surviving spouse of either. An interested person files the claim with the county board of commissioners, stating the service, death and discharge, and that the body was decently buried or cremated (with the cremains not yet interred). So ask what your county's ordinance pays.9

Illinois

Under 55 ILCS 5/5-27001 through 5-27003, each Illinois county must see to the burial of an honorably discharged veteran who served in one of the statute's listed periods (from the Civil War through Vietnam, plus any congressionally sanctioned war or conflict since), and of the veteran's mother, father, husband, wife, widow, widower or minor children, when the person dies without enough to pay for the funeral. The county where the person lived pays the burial and headstone expense, and the burial expense can't exceed $900. Two groups are left out: a family member who was receiving public assistance at death, and a veteran living in a state Veterans' Home at death.10

The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs describes the benefit more broadly than the statute, naming no service period and neither exclusion, so if your situation sits in that gap, ask the county Veterans Assistance Commission directly.10

Pennsylvania

Under 16 Pa.C.S. §§ 15508 to 15511, each Pennsylvania county must contribute at least $75 toward the funeral of a veteran who lived in the county at death, and at least $75 for the veteran's spouse unless the spouse remarried. The personal representative or the spouse applies within one year after the death (any time if the veteran died in service), on a form from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. If no qualified personal representative is available, the next of kin, another individual or a veterans' organization that takes on the burial cost can apply instead. If the bill's been paid, the payment goes to the applicant; otherwise it goes to the funeral director. Counties can pay more than the $75 floor: Bucks County pays $100 for a veteran with wartime service.11

Before paying, the county commissioners must see proof of service during a war, either an honorable discharge or other official record showing wartime service, or U.S. Department of Defense records showing service in a zone of a campaign or war. For a spouse, they also need proof the couple was married at the veteran's death and the spouse hasn't remarried.12

Pennsylvania counties also pay for a concrete or granite base for a government-provided headstone (or lettering on an existing memorial) for a county resident at death with proof of wartime or war-zone service, under § 15513, up to the actual cost. The county must approve the application before the work begins. Cumberland County offers $50 toward a headstone in a private cemetery (apply within a year unless the veteran died in service), and Monroe County reimburses up to $100 for installation, for wartime veterans only.13 Ask your county's Director of Veterans Affairs about either benefit.

Montana

MCA 10-2-501 has each county pay up to $500 toward the burial of any veteran who was a Montana resident at death, including a veteran who lived in a state veterans' home or died while away. The county also reimburses the actual cost of shipping and setting a federally provided headstone, up to $100. Here, a veteran means an honorably discharged person who served on active duty other than for training. The benefit doesn't apply if the veteran's personal representative or heirs waive it.14

Ohio

In Ohio, the county veterans service commission handles veteran burials under R.C. 5901.25 to 5901.27. When a veteran, or a veteran's parent, spouse or surviving spouse, dies without the means to pay for a funeral or cremation, the commission contracts at a fair price with the funeral director the family chooses. Before it does, the commission has to satisfy itself through careful inquiry that the family can't pay, or that paying would take money the family needs to live on. The county's total contribution is capped at $1,000, and the family or friends pay the rest.1

Michigan

Michigan's law, MCL 35.801, has the county pay $300 toward the burial of a veteran discharged under honorable conditions after at least 90 days of active wartime service (or fewer, because of a service-connected disability), or the veteran's spouse or surviving spouse. It applies only if the person who died left an estate of no more than $40,000, not counting the home, or $25,000 in counties that opted out of the 2004 increase. The person must have lived in Michigan at death and either for 6 months before entering service or for the 3 years before death. The county doesn't pay if the person left no surviving dependent but enough estate to cover lawful claims, burial included. The executor or administrator, or whoever paid for the burial, applies within 2 years after the death. Some counties pay more than the $300 in the statute: Lapeer County pays up to $1,000.15

Iowa

Iowa Code 35B.14 makes each county's commission of veteran affairs responsible for burying a veteran, or a veteran's spouse, surviving spouse or child, who dies without enough to pay for the funeral, up to an amount the county board of supervisors sets. Johnson County shows how much that amount can vary: it pays the funeral home directly, up to $3,200 for a burial, $2,200 for a cremation and $1,000 for cemetery costs, for a household at or below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines.2

New Jersey

New Jersey changed its law in 2023. Under R.S. 38:17-1 and 38:17-4 as amended by P.L.2023, c.17, each county buries a veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable who dies with income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The burial or cremation can cost up to $1,250. The county of residence pays up to $250 of that, including the headstone, and the state adds the rest through an annual appropriation, subject to available funds. So the full $1,250 isn't guaranteed. The 2023 law also added national cemeteries as an allowed burial site.16

Kansas

K.S.A. 73-304 makes Kansas county commissioners responsible for a decent burial for an honorably discharged veteran who served in one of the listed periods (the Spanish-American War through World War II, plus Korea and other operations under the U.S. or United Nations flag), or that veteran's spouse or parent, who dies without enough to pay for the funeral. The county where the burial takes place pays, and neither section states a dollar amount.17

Washington

Under RCW 73.08.070, each county pays for the burial or other disposition of an indigent veteran, or an indigent veteran's family member, who died without enough to cover the funeral. The payment can't exceed the limit the county sets and can't be less than $300. Family here means a spouse or domestic partner, a surviving spouse or partner, and dependent children. Each county defines indigent using tests in the statute, such as receiving Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or after-tax income up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level (or a higher limit the county sets).18

Nebraska

Neb. Rev. Stat. 80-104 makes each county's veterans service committee responsible for burying a veteran with an honorable or general (under honorable conditions) discharge who dies without enough to pay for the funeral. Relatives who ask to conduct the funeral must be allowed to, and the county where the veteran legally lived pays. The law names no dollar amount and doesn't name a spouse or other family member. So ask the committee what it pays.19

How a State or County Payment Fits With VA's Allowance

You may be able to claim both, but don't assume the two simply add up. How they interact depends on the program and on the veteran's VA status.

• Some county programs count VA's payment first. Johnson County, Iowa, deducts insurance, the federal VA burial reimbursement, Social Security death benefits and other resources from the funeral bill before it pays, and its payment is payment in full.2
• New York's reimbursement excludes federal money. It doesn't reimburse expenses the federal government pays or would pay.8
• Massachusetts subtracts the person's own resources. Whatever the deceased could pay comes off the $5,000 maximum.3
• VA can count what a state or county paid. For a veteran who was receiving VA compensation or pension at death, federal law (38 U.S.C. 2303(d)) limits a burial allowance claim to the difference between the total expenses and what the United States, a state, a state agency or political subdivision (such as a county), or the veteran's employer actually paid.20

VA describes its burial allowance as help for the person paying burial and funeral costs that won't be reimbursed by another organization, such as another government agency, and you claim it on VA Form 21P-530EZ.21

If Your State Isn't Listed Here

We haven't yet verified a state or county burial allowance law for any state other than the 19 above, including Wisconsin and North Dakota. That doesn't mean your state has no program, only that we haven't confirmed one against the statute. Your county veterans service office is the place to ask whether your county pays and what it requires.

How to Claim a State or County Burial Allowance

You're doing this while planning a service and calling family, so keep it simple. These steps come from the laws in this guide.

If you're also comparing funeral prices or worried about being upsold, our guide to your rights with a funeral home can help.

Learn More

Find personalized help working out which burial benefits your family can claim at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.