Burial Benefits
Burial benefits provide compensation to help cover the costs associated with a Veteran's burial. The surviving spouse will need to call the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) national call center at # 800.827.1000 to report the death. This step is vital because failing to contact the VBA and inform them of the death could result in having to repay the government for the benefits the spouse received as overpayment.
The National Cemetery Administration's (NCA) purpose is to provide burial space for Veterans and their eligible family members; to maintain national cemeteries as national shrines, sacred to the honor and memory of those interred or memorialized there; to mark Veterans' graves with a Government-furnished headstone, marker, or medallion and to provide Presidential Memorial Certificates in recognition of service to a grateful nation; and to administer grants for establishing or expanding state and tribal government Veterans cemeteries.