Burial Benefits

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulations governing entitlement to monetary burial benefits, which include burial allowances for service-connected and non-service- connected deaths, a plot or interment allowance, and reimbursement of transportation expenses. As amended, the regulations establish rules to support VA's automated payment of burial allowances to surviving spouses, conversion to flat-rate burial and plot or interment allowances that are equal to the maximum benefit authorized by law, and priority of payment to non-spouse survivors. The purpose of these regulations is to streamline the program and make it easier for veterans and their families to receive the right benefits and meet their expectations for quality, timeliness, and responsiveness.