A family that paid for a veteran’s funeral can ask the Department of Veterans Affairs to repay part of the cost, but the request has a clock. For most deaths, the clock starts at the burial, not at the death, and it runs for two years. The paperwork is a single application, VA Form 21P-530EZ.
The question for a son, daughter or spouse who has put off the paperwork is my father was a veteran, is it too late to claim the burial allowance? VA’s burial allowance page sets out the limit, the exceptions to it and the amounts, and the details change the answer for some families.
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Two years from the burial, for most non-service-connected deaths
VA’s burial allowance page says that for a death not connected to military service, the claim must be filed within two years after the veteran’s burial. The count starts on the burial date, so a death in one year and a burial in the next gives the family the later start.
The limit has exceptions. The page says there is no time limit for a claim when the veteran died while receiving care at a VA facility or a VA-contracted facility. It also says there is no limit for the plot or interment allowance or for a transportation claim, and none for any claim when the death was service connected.
What the allowance pays for deaths after October 1, 2026
The same page lists rates by date of death. For a veteran who died on or after October 1, 2026, the table shows $1,032 for the burial allowance and $1,032 for the plot allowance. A death from October 1, 2025 up to October 1, 2026 carries $1,002 for each, and earlier years step down from there, with $978 for the year before that.
The amounts follow the date of death rather than the date of the claim, so a family filing late is paid at the rate for the year the veteran died. The page also lists a headstone or marker allowance of $441 for deaths on or after October 1, 2025.
Who can file, and who needs no claim
VA’s list of eligible claimants is wide. The family member or friend who paid the burial and funeral costs and was not reimbursed by another organization can file. So can a surviving spouse, a surviving child, a parent, the executor or administrator of the estate, or a representative of a funeral home, cemetery or other organization.
A surviving spouse listed on the veteran’s profile does not need to file. The page says VA pays a set amount automatically after it receives notice of the death. Other claimants, including surviving children and the person who paid the funeral home, must apply.
The veteran’s own requirements
The veteran must not have a dishonorable discharge, and one of several conditions must apply. They include a death from a service-connected disability, a death while receiving VA care, a death while receiving VA pension or compensation, and a death with a pending claim that would have been granted. A death on active duty does not qualify for this allowance, and neither does a death while serving a federal prison sentence.
The page adds a rule for discharge upgrades. If the veteran’s discharge status changed after death from dishonorable to another status, the two-year period runs from the change.
Form 21P-530EZ and what goes with it
The application is VA Form 21P-530EZ, Application for Burial Benefits, which can be completed online or on paper. The paper version goes to the Pension Intake Center at PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365.
VA says a death certificate showing the cause of death may be required, and an itemized receipt is needed for transportation costs the claimant paid directly. A DD214 or other separation papers covering all service periods are recommended. VA’s wider burials and memorials page lists the other benefits, such as cemetery burial and headstones, which are separate from the allowance.
Is it too late to claim a veteran parent’s burial allowance, and when did the two-year clock start?
For a non-service-connected death, the two years run from the burial, and a family that waits can lose the allowance even though the amounts for a 2026 death stand at $1,032 for burial and $1,032 for the plot. The exceptions are narrow, and a surviving spouse not on the veteran’s profile still has to file.
The Veterans Benefits Action Kit covers the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance and shows how to file for free with VA Form 21P-527EZ. Part 5, Survivors: What Continues, and its claim tracker keep a family’s burial claim and other VA filings from drifting past their dates.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
