State-Guaranteed Burial for Destitute Veterans

Veterans who die destitute are guaranteed an appropriate burial by the State of Vermont. Financial assistance with burial expenses is provided through the Department for Children and Families (DCF) General Assistance program, which covers burials at public expense under 33 V.S.A. Section 2301. Eligibility is approved when (A) DCF is responsible under 33 V.S.A. Section 2301, and (B) the available resources of the deceased and the surviving spouse are less than the department's maximum payment for burial expenses. "Available resources" are "total resources" (the assets of the deceased and surviving spouse) less a $255 disregard; payment is denied if available resources equal or exceed the maximum payment.

General Assistance pays no more than $1,100 for burial expenses for an eligible individual (DCF Procedure P-2690), reduced by available resources of the deceased and contributions from the surviving spouse. "Burial" means the final disposition of human remains, including interring or cremating the decedent and the ceremonies directly related to that cremation or interment at the gravesite. Unless the decedent or the decedent's family has expressly requested an alternative arrangement, the decedent's body is cremated. The department issues a check directly to the funeral director upon receipt of the required itemized bill.

Payment is authorized only when an itemized accounting of the specific burial expenses to be provided at public expense is received on the appropriate departmental billing form that includes the signatures of both the funeral director and the party making the funeral arrangements, submitted to the Department for Children and Families, Economic Services Division.