Funeral Benefits for Military Veterans

When planning funerals at Syracuse, NY funeral homes, family members should be aware that funeral benefits are available from the Department of Veterans Affairs if their loved one served in the military and received an honorable or general discharge.

If your loved one was a military veteran, be sure to bring a copy (not the original) of their separation orders from the military (the form is DD-214). The funeral director will need this form to make arrangements for a military funeral.

All military veterans who received an honorable death are entitled to burial in a national cemetery, at no cost to the family. This includes a gravesite, opening and closing the grave, and perpetual care. Additional no-cost benefits are a grave stone or grave marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate.

If the military veteran is cremated, then their remains can be buried or inurned in national cemeteries with the same benefits and honors as military veterans who are buried in caskets.

Spouses and dependents of military veterans are entitled, even if your loved one died before the military veteran, to no-cost burial with the military veteran and their names and date of birth and death added to the military veteran’s gravestone.

If a military veteran is buried in a cemetery other than a national cemetery, they are entitled to a government-issue gravestone or grave marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate. However, the VA offers no benefits to spouses and dependents of military veterans who are buried in a cemetery other than a national cemetery.

Burial flags are an important symbol in the funerals of military veterans. The VA will provide this flag, which will drape the casket, as a sign of honor for the military veteran’s service to their country. When the casket reaches the gravesite, the flag will be folded and presented to the family of the military veteran for a keepsake.

The Presidential Memorial Certificate, which is presented to the military veteran’s family as part of the burial service, was initiated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and is still continued today as part of the military funeral tradition.

Some military veterans may be entitled to burial allowances, if the military veteran is buried in a private cemetery. However, the military veteran’s family must apply to the VA in order to receive this benefit. The burial allowance for non-military-service-connected deaths is $300 and the burial allowance for deaths directly connected to military service is $2000.

For military veteran deaths that occur in the line of duty, the VA may reimburse some or all of the costs of transporting the deceased military veteran from the funeral home to a national cemetery for burial.

For non-military-service-related deaths, if the military veteran (under certain conditions) was hospitalized by the VA when they died, the VA will pay up to $749 for burial and funeral expenses. If the military veteran was not hospitalized by the VA whey they died, the VA will pay $300 for burial and funeral expenses. If the military veteran is being buried in a private cemetery, the VA will pay a $749 plot-interment allowance.

Military veterans who are eligible for the VA burial allowance include those who died due to a service-related disability, those who were receiving a VA pension or compensation when they died, or those who were entitled to a VA pension or compensation, but did not take it because they did not want to reduce their military disability and/or retirement pay.

For more information about military veteran funeral benefits at Syracuse, NY funeral homes, our compassionate and experienced team at Bagozzi Twins Funeral Home, Inc. is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 2601 Milton Ave., Solvay, NY 13209, or you can call us today at (315) 468-2431.