Funeral and Death Expenses

In Death Pension cases, the funeral and last illness expenses that the widow or claimant paid for the veteran can be used to reduce the countable income that you have for VA purposes. It is recommended that you should come into our office and we will help you decide what is most advantageous.

It is important to remember that a non-service connected VA widow's pension is not available to everyone. Just serving in the military will not guarantee your spouse a pension. The VA takes into account income (from all sources), net worth, and unreimbursed medical expenses.

Thus a widow may not qualify at the time of the veteran's death; but with changing condition could be eligible in the future. This often happens if the need for home nursing care or institutional care arises.

In order for your claim to be promptly processed by the VA, you may need to provide any or all of the following:

• certified copies of marriage or birth certificate (children)
• certified copies of all divorces
• original or certified copies of military separation papers (DD-214)
• certified death certificate
• accurate information on income for spouse and dependent children and individual Social Security numbers

Generally, it takes about six months to process an original VA claim; but you may be able to speed up the process by providing all information required in a timely manner.

Death Pension Claims

• Filed within 45 days:
  When a claim is filed within 45 days of the veteran's death, VA will pay retroactive benefits to the date of death. However, under this provision, all income received during that period is counted in determining pension entitlement.
• Filed after 45 days:
  Certain widows may find it more to their benefit to file a claim more than 45 days after the veteran's death. Under these circumstances, VA will pay only from the date the claim is received in the VA office. No retroactive benefits will be payable, but the exclusion of income received during the first 45 days (such as lump sum insurance settlements) can more than off-set such a loss.

Burial

• The American Flag is furnished by the Veterans Administration to drape the casket of any wartime veteran, or any veteran who served after 1/31/55, or who was discharged due to service connected disability.
• Burial at National Cemetery is available to any deceased eligible veteran and to an eligible veteran's spouse, minor children and under certain conditions, to unmarried adult children. Applications can only be made after time of death to the Director of the National Cemetery desired. Ordinarily this is done by the attending funeral director.
• Cemetery Flag Holder is furnished to mark the graves of all honorably discharged veterans buried in Athens County. These bronze markers and the flags for them are supplied, free of charge, by the Athens County Veterans Service Office.
• Burial Expense Allowance is available only to veterans who at the time of their death were in receipt of either pension or compensation from the VA. Eligibility is also established if the veteran died at a VA facility or VA contracted nursing home. The VA will pay toward the burial cost for eligible veterans.
• Headstone or Marker is available free of charge from the VA, for all veterans with a discharge other than dishonorable.
• Setting VA Markers is the responsibility of the deceased veteran's family. Cost will vary with each cemetery. The VA marker is intended for an unmarked veteran's grave.

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