Veterans burial allowance and transportation benefits

Find out how to get Veterans burial allowances (sometimes called “Veterans death benefits”) to help cover burial, funeral, and transportation costs. Learn more

Am I eligible for allowances to help pay for a Veteran’s burial and funeral costs?

You may be eligible for Veterans burial allowances if you’re paying for the burial and funeral costs and you won’t be reimbursed by any other organization, like another government agency or the Veteran’s employer. You must also meet all of these requirements.

One of these relationships or professional roles describes your connection to the Veteran:

  • You’re the Veteran’s surviving spouse (Note: We recognize same-sex marriages.), or

  • You’re the surviving partner from a legal union (a relationship made formal in a document issued by the state recognizing the union), or

  • You’re a surviving child of the Veteran, or

  • You’re a parent of the Veteran, or

  • You’re the executor or administrator of the Veteran’s estate (someone who officially represents the Veteran), or 

  • You’re a family member or friend who isn’t the executor of the Veteran’s estate, or 

  • You’re a representative from a funeral home, cemetery, or other organization 

The Veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and one of these circumstances must be true:

  • The Veteran died as a result of a service-connected disability (a disability related to service), or

  • The Veteran died while getting VA care, either at a VA facility or at a facility contracted by VA, or

  • The Veteran died while traveling with proper authorization, and at VA’s expense, either to or from a facility for an examination, or to receive treatment or care, or

  • The Veteran died with an original or reopened claim for VA compensation or pension pending at the time of death, and they would’ve been entitled to benefits before the time of death, or

  • The Veteran died while receiving a VA pension or compensation, or

  • The Veteran died while eligible for compensation or a VA pension at their time of death, but instead received full military retirement or disability pay

Or:

  • The Veteran had been getting a VA pension or compensation when they died, or

  • The Veteran had chosen to get military retired pay instead of compensation

Note: We’ll also provide an allowance for the cost of transporting a Veteran’s remains for burial in a national cemetery.

You can’t get burial allowances for certain individuals

We don’t provide burial allowances if the individual died in any of these ways:

  • On active duty, or

  • While serving as a member of Congress, or

  • While serving a federal prison sentence