Death & Survivor Benefits
Alaska Veteran Death Gratuity
A $750 payment to the surviving spouse of a qualified veteran, or to the estate’s personal representative if there is none. Three separate routes qualify a veteran and one of them is Alaska Territorial Guard service.
Also called: 26.10.080, death gratuity, $750, surviving spouse, personal representative, burial, Alaska Territorial Guard, Naval Militia.
For: Survivor.
Where it applies
Written for the jurisdictions listed here.
- AlaskaState
AS 26.10.080 directs the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs to pay, on application, a death gratuity of seven hundred fifty dollars to the surviving spouse of a qualified veteran who was a resident of the state at the time of death. Where there is no surviving spouse, it is paid to the personal representative of the veteran.
The amount is small and it is not indexed. It is worth claiming because the application is short and because it is one of the few things in this file that pays cash directly to a family.
A veteran is qualified where the burial occurred in the state on or after May 13, 1984, or the death occurred on or after September 19, 1990. Those are the two commencement dates for the program and they operate as alternatives.
Three service and residency routes qualify a person, and they reach quite different people.
The first is a person who served in the armed forces of the United States, was a resident of Alaska when they entered service, had been a resident for at least a year before entering, and returned to Alaska within one year after discharge intending to remain.
The second asks nothing about where the person was when they served. It reaches a person who was a resident of Alaska for not less than one year immediately preceding death. A veteran who moved to Alaska late in life and lived there a year qualifies on this route.
The third is service-based and Alaska-specific. It reaches a person who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard, the Alaska Army National Guard, the Alaska Air National Guard or the Alaska Naval Militia. It also reaches a person who served in a reserve unit of the United States armed forces in Alaska, where that unit required a minimum of one weekend of duty each month and fifteen consecutive days of active duty training each year, for not less than three years.
Discharge character is an absolute condition. The department may not pay unless the veteran received an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions.
This is a state payment and is entirely separate from the federal VA burial allowance, the plot allowance and the government headstone or marker. A family can claim all of them, and the federal benefits are worth considerably more.
Thresholds
| Gate | Rule |
|---|---|
| Burial in Alaska on or after May 13, 1984, or death on or after September 19, 1990 | The two commencement dates operate as alternatives. |
| Alaska resident at death, plus one of three routes | Entered service as an Alaska resident of at least a year and returned within a year of discharge intending to remain; or was an Alaska resident for at least one year immediately preceding death; or served in the Alaska Territorial Guard, Alaska Army or Air National Guard, or Alaska Naval Militia. |
| Or three years in a qualifying Alaska reserve unit | A reserve unit of the United States armed forces in Alaska requiring a minimum of one weekend of duty each month and fifteen consecutive days of active duty training each year, for not less than three years. |
| Honorable or general discharge under honorable conditions | The department may not pay a death gratuity unless the veteran received one of these. |
| Paid to the surviving spouse, or to the personal representative | Seven hundred fifty dollars, on application, and not indexed. It does not displace the federal VA burial allowance, plot allowance or headstone. |
Sources
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.