Butler County Burial Benefit and Headstones

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 Services office certifies the applications. Burial benefit. The county's page states it outright: "A burial benefit of $100 is payable towards the funeral expense of an honorably discharged war-time veteran. The veteran must be a legal resident of Butler County at the time of his/her death. The widow(er) is entitled to a $100 burial benefit provided she/he was a Butler County resident", citing "(County Code, Section 1909, 1910)" - numbering from the former County Code whose veteran-burial provisions now sit in sections 15509 and 15510 of 16 Pa.C.S., recodified by Act 14 of 2024. "The funeral director is directly responsible for applying for county burial benefits", with one year from the date of death, by email to [email protected] with the funeral bill, the death certificate and the discharge. The county's two-page application - "Application for Burial Allowance - War Veteran" and "- War Veteran's Widow" - carries the funeral director's expense affidavit and a county certification of the wartime service and residence; the form itself prints no amount, the $100 is on the page. Headstones. "There is a $100 reimbursement from Butler County for the setting of the headstone for all war time era veterans. Please contact our office for further details on how to apply." No county form is posted; the headstones page links the federal claim for a standard government headstone, the medallion application and the commemorative urn application, and notes that a veteran can receive the headstone or the medallion but not both. Section 15513 makes the base for a federal headstone, or lettering on an existing family memorial, an actual-cost duty approved before the work starts; the $100 setting reimbursement is the county's own addition. Budget. The 2026 adopted budget gives the Veterans Office $35,000 for burials, $8,500 for headstones, $13,000 for veterans organizations and $4,500 for veterans outreach, in a $487,964 office budget.