Beaver County Burial Allowance and Grave Markers

The duties are the State's, under 16 Pa.C.S. Chapter 155; see the Pennsylvania entry on county burial and grave benefits. The Veterans Affairs office certifies the claims; no county application form is posted. Burial allowance. The county's benefits page states it outright: "$100 payable to the next of kin, towards the funeral expenses of an honorably discharged war-time veteran at the time of death", the veteran having been "a resident of the county", and "$100 to the next of kin for the surviving spouse of the war-time veteran at the time of her death", with residence construed as domicile. The page quotes the County Code's wartime-service rule - service depends on when, not where, a veteran served - and lists the wartime periods from World War II to the Persian Gulf. Headstone allowance. "The county will pay up to a $50 allowance for the foundation and installation of the free federal headstone for war-time veterans. Or, military lettering on a private headstone for war-time veterans." Section 15513 makes the base for a federal headstone, and the lettering on an existing family memorial, an actual-cost county duty approved before the work starts; the $50 ceiling and the wartime-only limit are the county's own, so ask the office before paying a larger bill. Flags and grave records. "Beaver County provides flags and flag holders for the grave sites of all veterans. The flags and holders are placed by local American Legion posts, VFW posts and volunteers prior to Memorial Day." The office's grave registration record reaches back to Revolutionary War veterans. The page sets no filing deadline of its own; the State's one-year rule for burial claims applies (sections 15509 and 15510). For burial in a national cemetery the office's page points to the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville, whose scheduling the funeral director calls (administration 724-746-4363, arrangements 800-535-1117), with a legible DD-214 required.