Veteran Allowance Eligibility

The Veterans Association (VA) will pay a partial burial allowance if a veteran’s death is service-connected. The Veterans Association (VA) will also pay the cost of transporting the remains of the deceased that has an available gravesite. In such cases, the person who bore the veteran’s burial expenses may claim reimbursement from the Veterans Association (VA).

The Veterans Association (VA) will pay a portion of the burial and funeral expenses for veterans who, at the time of death, were entitled to receive pension or compensation or would have been entitled to compensation but for receipt of military retirement pay.

Eligibility also is established when death occurs in a Veterans Association (VA) facility or a nursing home with which the Veterans Association (VA) is contracted. Additional cost of transportation of the remains may be reimbursed. There is no time limit for filing reimbursement claims of service-deaths. In other deaths, claims must be filed within two years after permanent burial or cremation.

The Veterans Association (VA) will pay a portion of the plot allowance when the veteran is not buried in a cemetery that is under U.S. Government jurisdiction if the veteran is discharged from active duty because of disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, if the veteran was in receipt of compensation or a pension or would have been in receipt of compensation but for receipt of military retired pay, or if the veteran died while hospitalized by the Veterans Association (VA) . The plot allowance is not payable solely on wartime service.

If the veteran is buried with charge of the cost of a plot or interment in a state-owned cemetery reserved solely for veteran burial, a portion for the plot allowance may be paid to the state. Burial expenses paid by the deceased’s employer or a state agency will not be reimbursed.

Please note: Allegheny County has a Veteran Burial Allowance.