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Basics You Should Expect When Thinking About Veterans Funeral Benefits
Veterans funeral benefits defray the costs of a lot more besides burials. The VA has a nice set of amenities and allowances to help make it easier for military families during this difficult time. The deceased veteran's family is able to make proper arrangements and give a decent burial to honor the death of a person who put country ahead of self.
All the help the government provides in this regard is basically categorized under two broad categories. The first lot comes under the reimbursements offered by the VA for funerals and burials. The National Cemetery Administration subsequently provides the gravesite and its subsequent care.
The maximum amount the VA can provide depends on the cause of death. For deaths that are not service-related, there will be two payments that may not exceed $700 each. One is a reimbursement of costs for funerals, burials and other rites. The other one is for interment of plots, available only for those not being buried in a national cemetery.
If the vet dies due to a service-related disability or injury, up to $2,000 may be offered for burial expenses. Note that in this case, there is only one payment. This payment doesn't have to include the burial plot within this cost, since that is arranged for separately by the National Cemetery Administration.
A deceased veteran may be buried in one of the 131 national cemeteries. Apart from the gravesite, they are entitled to a headstone or marker paid for by the government, along with a burial flag. The family also gets a Presidential Memorial Certificate. The grave opening and closing and perpetual care are taken care of at no cost to the family.
Note that veterans funeral benefits are not available for dependents, even though they are entitled to a grave in the same cemetery as the veteran. The government does, however, arrange for inscribing their names and birth/death dates on the veteran's headstone. All this is done irrespective of the order of their deaths, so everything is arranged for even though advance reservations are not allowed.
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