What VA Burial and Survivor Benefits Can a Family Claim After a Veteran Dies?

Who can apply for a VA burial allowance?

A claimant paying burial or funeral costs that another organization will not reimburse may apply if they are a surviving spouse or legal-union partner, a surviving child, a parent, the executor or administrator, a family member or friend who is not the executor, or a funeral home, cemetery, or other organization. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge.

Families often start this paperwork around Veterans Day, but the amounts and forms do not depend on the holiday. VA’s Veterans burial allowance page is the source for who may claim.

The claimant must be paying burial or funeral costs that will not be reimbursed by another organization, such as another government agency or the veteran’s employer. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge. One of these death circumstances must also be true, in VA’s wording:

• a service-connected death
• death while getting VA care, at a VA facility or a facility contracted by VA
• death while traveling with authorization at VA’s expense for an examination or for treatment or care
• a pending original or reopened compensation or pension claim the veteran would have been entitled to
• death while receiving VA pension or compensation
• death while eligible for those benefits but receiving full military retirement or disability pay instead

VA does not provide burial allowances if the person died on active duty, while serving as a member of Congress, or while serving a federal prison sentence. Active-duty deaths follow a different survivor path, described with Dependency and Indemnity Compensation below. Benefits can apply to burial, cremation, burial at sea, or donation to a medical school.

How much will VA pay for a burial or a plot in 2026?

For a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2026, VA.gov lists a $1,032 burial allowance and $1,032 for a plot. A service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, has a $2,000 maximum burial allowance. If the veteran died on or after October 1, 2026, the headstone or marker allowance on the same page is $420.

Use the row that matches the date of death. Figures are from the live VA burial-allowance table, last updated October 30, 2026, and checked again on November 11, 2026. A service-connected death before September 11, 2001, has a $1,500 maximum. If the veteran is buried in a VA national cemetery, VA may also reimburse some or all of the cost of moving the remains. Earlier non-service-connected rows still apply if the death was before October 1, 2026, including $1,002 and $1,002 for a death on or after October 1, 2025.

The $420 headstone or marker allowance for a death on or after October 1, 2026, is separate from VA’s program that can furnish a government headstone or marker. Do not mix the two; the memorial-items program is on VA’s headstones, markers, and medallions page. The prior-year allowance row is $441.

Florida national cemeteries on VA’s national cemetery list include Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Barrancas in Pensacola, South Florida in Lake Worth, Cape Canaveral National Cemetery in Mims, and Tallahassee National Cemetery, each marked open on that list. Bay Pines is listed as cremation only. St. Augustine National Cemetery is listed as closed. Bushnell’s own page states space for casketed and cremated remains. Confirm current burial-space status on the individual cemetery page before you schedule.

Does a surviving spouse have to file a claim?

No, not if the surviving spouse is listed as the spouse on the veteran’s VA profile. When VA receives notice of the death, it automatically pays a set amount to those eligible surviving spouses to help pay for the plot, interment, or transportation. Other claimants apply online or by mail with VA Form 21P-530EZ.

Other claimants apply online or by mail. Mail VA Form 21P-530EZ, Application for Burial Benefits, to Department of Veterans Affairs, Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365. The form and the online path are on the VA burial-allowance page.

Supporting documents VA may need: the death certificate including the cause of death; an itemized transportation receipt if transportation is claimed; and, recommended, the DD214 or other separation documents.

How long does the family have to apply?

There is no time limit to claim the burial or transportation allowance for a service-connected death. For a non-service-connected death, a burial-allowance claim must generally be filed within two years after the burial. VA states two exceptions: no time limit if the veteran died while under VA care, and no time limit for a plot, interment, or transportation claim.

If VA changed the veteran’s discharge status after death from dishonorable to another status, file a burial allowance claim within two years after that change. The two-year clock for a non-service-connected burial allowance runs from burial, not from the date of death. State or tribal organizations claiming a plot or interment allowance have no time limit on that claim, per the same VA page.

How do these payments interact with a Florida estate?

A VA allowance paid to the person who paid the funeral is a reimbursement to that person. Florida Class 2 claims under section 733.707 are reasonable funeral, interment, and grave marker expenses not to exceed $6,000 in the aggregate. Do not assume the VA payment changes that cap. Keep receipts, and get legal advice if the estate is short.

Florida’s payment order is in section 733.707. Class 2 claims are “reasonable funeral, interment, and grave marker expenses, whether paid by a guardian, the personal representative, or any other person, not to exceed the aggregate of $6,000.” Amounts above that cap fall into Class 8, with excess medical bills. The full class order is in who pays the funeral and other debts in Florida.

If a personal representative will pay the funeral from estate funds, that work sits inside Florida probate administration after the court issues letters. Keep the funeral contract, the VA claim, and every receipt in one folder. This page does not state a rule that the VA payment reduces or increases Florida’s $6,000 Class 2 cap. Do not treat a VA payment as permission to ignore Florida’s payment order.

What other VA survivor benefits should the family review?

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is a tax-free monetary benefit for a surviving spouse, child, or parent when a service member died in the line of duty, or a veteran died from a service-related injury or illness, including the totally disabling cases VA lists. A surviving spouse or child of a veteran usually files VA Form 21P-534EZ.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is a separate claim from the burial allowance. This page does not restate a monthly DIC dollar amount.

As a surviving spouse, VA says you may be eligible if you lived with the veteran or service member without a break until their death, or, if you were separated, you were not at fault for the separation; and if you married within 15 years of discharge from the period of service during which the qualifying illness or injury started or got worse, or you were married for at least one year, or you had a child with the veteran or service member. If you remarried, you can receive or continue compensation if you remarried on or after December 16, 2003, and were 57 or older at the time, or you remarried on or after January 5, 2021, and were 55 or older at the time.

Evidence must show the service member died while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive-duty training; or the veteran died from a service-connected illness or injury; or the veteran did not die from a service-connected illness or injury but was eligible for VA compensation for a service-connected disability rated as totally disabling for a qualifying period. If eligibility was due to that rating, VA requires it for at least 10 years before death, or since release from active duty and for at least 5 years immediately before death, or for at least 1 year before death if the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.

A surviving spouse or child of a veteran files VA Form 21P-534EZ. An active-duty death uses VA Form 21P-534a, usually with a military casualty assistance officer. A surviving parent files VA Form 21P-535. Social Security benefits after a death are a different agency and a different application. Unpaid military or VA life insurance, if it exists, follows beneficiary forms; see life insurance and retirement accounts after death.

Where should a Florida family start this week?

Tell the funeral home the person was a veteran, gather a death certificate that includes the cause of death, and find the DD214. A surviving spouse listed on the veteran’s VA profile often does not file a burial claim. Other people start VA Form 21P-530EZ. Afterlife Asset Care is not an accredited VA claims representative.

Start with what to do in the first 48 hours after a death: tell the funeral home the person was a veteran so the death can be reported. Order a certificate that includes the cause of death if you will file a VA burial claim; the Florida steps are in how to get a Florida death certificate. If you are not the surviving spouse on the VA profile, complete VA Form 21P-530EZ and keep the DD214 with it.

For help filing a VA claim, use VA’s accredited representative search or a Veterans Service Organization. Afterlife Asset Care is not an accredited VA claims representative, claims agent, or VSO representative.

Common questions