Death & Survivor Benefits

The Wyoming state veterans cemetery at Evansville, near Casper. The burial plot and vault are provided at no cost for an eligible veteran, and family members may be buried there too.

Qualifying service and discharge. Eligibility follows service and a qualifying discharge, with family members eligible on their own terms. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

Oregon runs no state veterans cemetery. Burial for an Oregon veteran goes through a VA national cemetery, and every headstone, flag, and allowance in this area is a federal benefit rather than a state one.

Federal eligibility governs. Because Oregon has no state veterans cemetery, eligibility for burial, headstones, flags, and allowances is determined by the National Cemetery Administration and VA rather than by Oregon. No state disability rating test applies, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

Ottawa County pays $600 toward the burial of an eligible wartime veteran or spouse, twice the State floor, with an asset limit of $70,000 rather than the statute's $40,000. It asks for an honorable discharge where the statute says under honorable conditions.

Wartime veteran or spouse, Ottawa County resident, assets under $70,000. An honorable discharge, 90 days of active wartime service and Ottawa County residence, within a $70,000 asset limit. No rating is needed.

Every Pennsylvania county pays at least $75 toward the funeral of a veteran who lived there and of a surviving spouse who has not remarried, sets the base for a free federal headstone, and puts a flag on veterans graves each Memorial Day. The application has to be made within one year of the death.

A veteran or a surviving spouse who lived in the county. The allowance is for a deceased serviceperson with a legal residence in the county, or a spouse who had not remarried, claimed within one year. No rating is needed, and the rating filter never hides this entry.

Up to $500 a term for eight terms, $4,000 in total, paid to a Pennsylvania school for a child of a wartime veteran rated 100 percent or who died in service or of a service-connected disability. The child has to be 16 to 23, have lived in Pennsylvania for five years and show financial need.

A parent with a wartime service-connected disability, or who died in wartime service. The gate is the parent's status: a wartime veteran certified 100 percent disabled, or who died in wartime service, of wounds, or of a service-connected disability (51 Pa.C.S. 8701). The rating belongs to the parent, so the rating filter does not test it.

Waives the tuition, fees and on-campus room and board that other grants leave, at a Pennsylvania community college, state-owned or state-related school, for the child of a Pennsylvania National Guard member or other service member on state or federal active duty who died in the line of duty; first-time applicants must be 25 or younger, and a spouse may use it for 10 years.

A parent in the Pennsylvania National Guard who died in the line of duty. The gate is the line-of-duty death of a Pennsylvania National Guard member since January 1, 1976, or of a Guard member or other individual on federal or state active military duty after September 11, 2001. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

Pittsylvania County takes the statewide exemption for the unremarried surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty. Its form still says “killed in action”, ties the spouse to the same home, and wrongly treats the county’s average home value as a cut-off.

Line of Duty determination from the Department of Defense. The member of the armed forces died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. The spouse has not remarried and lives in the home. No disability rating is involved.

The county's Veterans' Memorial Plaza on the Ravenna courthouse lawn takes inscribed bricks at $100 and $250, the commission splits the cost of replacing worn grave markers with the county (132 replaced in a year at $300 to $400 each), and the $500-a-post Memorial Day allowance runs through the commissioners under Revised Code 307.66.

A Portage County veteran's grave, marker or memorial brick. Bricks are ordered on the county form; marker replacement runs through the commission office (330-297-3545); the $500 Memorial Day allowance goes to chartered posts on filed expense reports. No rating is needed.

Porter County pays $300 toward the burial of a veteran, raised from $100 by the Commissioners on October 28, 2025; the Veterans Service Office in Valparaiso takes the application, 219-465-3587.

A deceased veteran. The allowance is paid on a deceased veteran's burial, through the Veterans Service Office. No rating is needed.

Powhatan County takes the statewide exemption for the unremarried surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty, on the dwelling and up to one acre, with the value above the county’s improved residential-class average assessed value taxed: $475,469 by the 2026 assessment roll (the roll does not separate single-family detached).

Line of Duty determination from the Department of Defense. The member of the armed forces died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. The spouse has not remarried and lives in the home. No disability rating is involved.

An engraved certificate signed by the current President honoring a deceased veteran or reservist eligible for national cemetery burial, free to next of kin, family and friends.

Eligible for national cemetery burial. The veteran or reservist must have been eligible for burial in a national cemetery.

Prince George County takes the statewide exemption for the unremarried surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty with a DD Form 1300. Its page quotes a superseded statute: “killed in action”, and a spouse who must keep occupying the home.

Line of Duty determination from the Department of Defense. The member of the armed forces died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. The spouse has not remarried and lives in the home. No disability rating is involved.

For 2026, Prince William fully exempts the home and up to one acre of an unremarried surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty when the total is assessed at $607,800 or less, and taxes only the value above that. The solid waste fee is relieved too.

Line of Duty determination from the Department of Defense. The member of the armed forces died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. The spouse has not remarried and owns and occupies the home as the principal residence.

Pulaski County takes the statewide exemption for the unremarried surviving spouse of a covered person who died in the line of duty, on the dwelling and up to one acre, capped at the county average. The ordinance was adopted April 26, 2021, and the application asks for the Comptroller or VRS determination.

Determination by the Comptroller or the Virginia Retirement System. The covered person died in the line of duty and the beneficiary was entitled to benefits under Code section 9.1-402, as determined by the Comptroller before July 1, 2017 or the Virginia Retirement System after. No disability rating is involved.

Each month the Rensselaer County Legislature honours one deceased county veteran in an hour-long ceremony in its chambers, with a biography read by the Chairman, a proclamation from the County Executive and a flag raised in the veteran's memory that flies for thirty days and is then given to the family; families apply on the county's form.

A deceased Rensselaer County veteran. The family or friends apply. No rating is needed.

A city or town pays the funeral of a wartime veteran who dies without means, but the statutory ceiling is $55 and the claim must be made within 60 days. The burial may not be in a pauper cemetery.

Wartime service, an honorable discharge, and death without means. The person must have served during any period of war, been honorably discharged, died within Rhode Island, and left insufficient means to defray necessary funeral expenses. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

The adjutant general furnishes a firing squad on the family’s request for a wartime veteran’s funeral, and where possible a bugler to play Taps live. The statute forbids a recording.

Wartime service and an honorable discharge, on request. The duty arises on request by the family or by a veterans’ organization authorized to conduct the funeral, for an honorably discharged deceased member of any of the wars in which the United States has been engaged. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

The veterans exemption runs in terms to the unmarried widow or widower, and Rhode Island defines unmarried generously: a remarriage that was void, ended in death, or was annulled or dissolved does not bar the benefit.

Unmarried widow or widower of a qualifying veteran. The survivor holds the exemption in their own right on property they own. No disability rating is involved anywhere in the section, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

Burial at Exeter at no cost to the veteran, with two years of service enough on its own and six years in the Guard or Reserve enough for a member and spouse. The State pays the bridge tolls for a funeral procession from Aquidneck Island.

Two years of honorable service, or federal national cemetery eligibility. The statute makes eligible any person who served at least two years in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force, or Marine Corps whose service terminated honorably, on top of rules that must be consistent with 38 U.S.C. § 2402. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

The county runs its own veterans cemetery in the Atlantic County Park at Estell Manor - dedicated 1985, renamed for County Executive Richard E. Squires in 2024 - where eligible Atlantic County veterans discharged other than dishonorably and two-year residents may be buried with their spouses; the Division of Parks and Recreation flags the graves on federal holidays.

Atlantic County veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable or undesirable, and their spouses. Burial requires active duty other than training, a discharge other than dishonorable or undesirable, and two years of county residency. No rating is required.

The commission buries an honorably discharged veteran and spouse in its Veterans Honor Grounds at Mansfield Cemetery - lot, headstone and flag-holder footer at a minimal cost, free when the family lacks the means - and dedicated a 768-niche Veterans Honor Wall there on November 11, 2024; the county's 2026 Veterans Burial fund carries $106,000 for burials, $4,500 for grave markers and $15,000 for Memorial Day.

Honor Grounds: minimal cost, or free when the family cannot pay. An honorably discharged veteran and spouse are buried in the Honor Grounds at minimal cost, free when the family lacks the means; a DD-214 is required and lots are bought through the office. No rating is needed.

Rockland County owns and runs two veterans cemeteries for eligible county veterans, their spouses and dependants: new burials go to the Frederick W. Loescher Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Brick Church Road, arranged through the funeral director with the Veterans Service Agency; families need proof of county residence and veteran status, and no plots are pre-reserved now.

An eligible Rockland County veteran, spouse or dependant. Proof of county residence and veteran status. No rating is needed.

Through the Rusk County Veterans Service Office, the Rusk County Veterans Monument Association adds a veteran’s name to the county veterans monument for $100 paid in advance - for any honorably discharged veteran or Merchant Marine, living or deceased, who is or was a Rusk County resident, with a copy of the discharge.

Honorably discharged veteran or Merchant Marine with a Rusk County tie. The veteran, living or deceased, is or was a Rusk County resident; $100 per name in advance with a copy of the discharge. No rating is needed.

Saginaw County pays a burial allowance for a veteran with 90 days of wartime service whose legal address was in the county, applied for on the Probate Court's form. A surviving spouse applicant may keep $40,000 in assets and any other applicant may keep an amount up to the cost of the funeral; the county does not publish the amount it pays.

90 days of wartime service, Saginaw County legal address. At least 90 days of active duty in the listed war periods and a legal address in Saginaw County at death. No rating is needed.

The county maintains its own Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 719 Route 45, Pilesgrove, where the Veterans Affairs Department holds the county’s Memorial Day ceremony and flag raising with VFW Post 253, and a dedicated trust by rider accepts cemetery donations under N.J.S.A. 40A:5-29.

Veterans and their families. The county cemetery serves veterans and their families; donations run through a dedicated trust. No rating is required.

Schuylkill County's page gives a $75 allowance toward the funeral and burial of an honourably discharged wartime veteran or a wartime veteran's widow who lived in the county, a $60 allowance toward a headstone, its inscription or a government headstone's foundation, applied for within one year, and free grave flags and holders.

A deceased wartime veteran, or the widow of one, resident in the county. The county pays for a wartime veteran (or widow) whose legal residence was in the county, on application within the State filing period. No rating is needed.

Oklahoma's only state veterans cemetery, in Ardmore, buries eligible veterans at no charge with the same eligibility as a VA national cemetery. Spouses and dependents are currently free too, though the state says their fees may change.

Low-cost term life insurance of up to $500,000 for service members, at 5 cents per $1,000 a month plus $1 for traumatic injury coverage.

• Maximum coverage and premium: $500,000; 5 cents per $1,000 a month, plus $1 TSGLI (read 2026-10-08)

Serving member. Active duty, or Ready Reserve or Guard with scheduled drills, or another covered status.

Burial at no charge for a veteran with an honorable discharge, and a fee not exceeding cost for an immediate family member. The South Carolina residency requirement was deleted outright by 2024 Act No. 153, and published guidance still lists it.

An honorable discharge from the Armed Forces. Section 25-11-80(F)(2). Honorable only, which is narrower than the "other than dishonorable" test the same chapter uses for the state veterans homes in Section 25-11-720.

One hundred dollars toward the burial of a veteran or a veteran’s spouse whose estate and family cannot pay. It is a means-tested allowance, not a general burial benefit, and the claim has to be filed within a year.

A year of residence, before service or before death. The veteran must have been a United States citizen and a resident of South Dakota for one year preceding entrance into military service or for one year preceding death. Either window qualifies.

Free tuition at a Regents university or technical college for a resident child under twenty-five of a veteran who died from any cause while in the armed forces. The cause of death does not have to be service-connected.

Death from any cause while in service. The parent must have died from any cause while in the service of the armed forces. Neither a service connection nor any VA determination is required.

Up to $200 to set a federal headstone, or $100 toward a privately bought stone with the veteran’s military details etched on the back. Two 2023 acts amended the same section a month apart and left the figures disagreeing.

A year of South Dakota residence, before service or before death. The veteran must have been a resident of the state for one year preceding entrance into military service or preceding death.

The same $200,000 exemption passes to a surviving spouse, and there are two ways in: the veteran was permanently and totally disabled, or the spouse receives DIC for a service-connected death. Remarriage ends it.

Two routes, and the DIC route asks for no rating. The spouse qualifies if the veteran was rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, or if the spouse receives dependency and indemnity compensation as a result of the veteran’s service-connected death. The second route does not depend on the rating the veteran held.

Burial at no cost for an eligible veteran at Sioux Falls, with a spouse or dependent fee capped by statute at the federal plot allowance and currently $1,002. The state is expanding it under a 2025 appropriation.

Federal eligibility rules decide, verified from the discharge. Eligibility is established from a discharge document or DD-214, and a committal date is provisional until the cemetery verifies service and character of discharge.

Tuition without cost at a Regents institution or a technical college where a South Dakota National Guard member died or became totally and permanently disabled on duty. The child is capped at twenty-five; the spouse has no age limit.

Death or total permanent disability from Guard duty. The member must have died or sustained a total disability, permanent in nature, resulting from duty as a member of the South Dakota National Guard. The test is not stated as a VA rating.

Eight semesters free of tuition and mandatory fees for a child or spouse of a South Dakota prisoner of war or person missing in action. It is the only South Dakota education benefit that covers mandatory fees.

A POW or MIA determination by the secretary of defense. The parent or spouse must have been declared a prisoner of war or a person missing in action as established by the secretary of defense after January 1, 1940, and must have been a South Dakota resident at entry into service or have an official South Dakota residence.

Spotsylvania’s page and application still cover only a service member killed in action or who died of wounds, and require the spouse to stay in the same home. State law has covered any line-of-duty death since January 1, 2025, and the spouse may move.

Died in the line of duty. Under section 58.1-3219.9 the service member died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. The spouse has not remarried and occupies the home. No disability rating is involved.

St. Clair County pays up to $1,000 toward a qualifying veteran's burial - $1,000 to the funeral home on an unpaid bill, $600 reimbursed when it was paid - and its check registers show each payment split $300 from the general fund and $700 from the veterans millage.

90 days of wartime service, county resident at death. Ninety days of active service in a wartime era, an estate not exceeding $40,000 at death, and application within two years. No rating is needed.

Stafford’s page still describes only the killed-in-action exemption, with conditions the statute no longer has. Since January 1, 2025 state law covers any death in the line of duty, and the spouse may move.

Died in the line of duty. Under section 58.1-3219.9 the service member died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. The spouse has not remarried and occupies the home. No disability rating is involved.

Suffolk’s ordinance still covers only the surviving spouse of a member killed in action. State law has covered any line-of-duty death since January 1, 2025, and the state exemption applies whatever the ordinance says.

Died in the line of duty. Under section 58.1-3219.9 the service member died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense determination. Suffolk’s ordinance still says killed in action. No disability rating is involved.

Sullivan County's own Veterans Cemetery, run by the Veterans Service Agency and Public Works, buries eligible veterans with one spouse, dependent children or dependent parents, up to three to a gravesite; since July 2026 a veteran who owned property in the county qualifies as well as one who lived there at entry or at death. 2,059 burials so far; 845-807-0233.

An eligible Sullivan County veteran and family. A veteran who lived in or owned property in the county at entry or at death; one spouse and dependants may share the gravesite. No rating is needed.

Up to $1,000 toward the unpaid funeral or burial bill of a Summit County veteran, or a veteran's family member, who left no funds or assets, applied for by the person responsible for the bill, normally within 30 days of the death. It does not reimburse a bill already paid.

No funds or assets, bill unpaid. The deceased left no funds or assets for the final expenses, the bill is unpaid, and the person responsible cannot pay. Up to $1,000. No rating is needed.

A monthly annuity to a military retiree’s surviving spouse or child, generally 55% of the chosen base amount of retired pay, and automatic coverage for the survivors of a member who dies on active duty.

• Standard annuity for a spouse: 55% of the base amount (read 2026-10-08)

Retiree election or death on active duty. The retiree elected coverage at retirement, or the member died on active duty.

Needs-based monthly payment for a surviving spouse or child of a wartime veteran with limited income and net worth.

• MAPR, surviving spouse with no child, effective December 1, 2025: $11,699 a year (read 2026-10-08)

Income and net worth. Survivors Pension is needs-based. Income and net worth must fall under the current VA limits. Confirm the survivors pension rate chart.

Section 38-1 of the Suwannee County Code (Ordinance 2025-06, April 1, 2025) keeps the unclaimed remains of a veteran, Reservist or Guard member eligible for a national cemetery, or of an eligible spouse or child, from the anatomical board, and requires a reasonable effort, including a call to the county veterans service office, to have them buried in a national cemetery.

Veteran, spouse or dependent child eligible for a national cemetery. For the unclaimed remains of a veteran, Reservist or Guard member eligible under 38 C.F.R. 38.620, or an eligible spouse or child. No rating is needed.

A state medal presented by the Governor to the immediate survivor of an active-duty member killed in action or killed in an attack targeting service members. It reaches members stationed in Tennessee as well as legal residents.

Killed in action in one of four described circumstances. Engaged in action against an enemy of the United States, in military support operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, serving with friendly foreign forces in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent, or serving in a presidentially designated combat zone.

A Guard member injured on state active duty or training is compensated as under workers’ compensation, on the higher of the civilian or federal wage. A death benefit runs to survivors with a statutory floor of $100,000.

Tennessee National Guard on state active duty or authorized training. The section covers injury, illness, disability or death arising from state active duty or authorized training. Federal Title 10 service is covered by the federal schemes instead.

Three separate routes carry the disabled veteran’s property tax relief to a surviving spouse who does not remarry. The cap is the same $175,000 the veteran had, which is not what the state’s own veterans department page says.

The veteran was eligible at death, or a later amendment would have made them so. Subsection (e). The second sentence reaches back: a subsequent amendment widening the definition of disabled veteran carries the spouse in even though the veteran died under the narrower one.