VA Assists with the Burial of Unclaimed Veterans

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VA Assists with Burial of Unclaimed Veterans

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration (NCA) values its partnership with you to honor Veterans with no known next of kin and insufficient financial resources with dignified burial in VA national and VA-grant funded State and Tribal Veterans cemeteries.  We could not accomplish this without your efforts. For that reason, we are sending you this message so that you are aware of the revised 2019 reimbursements to ensure that unclaimed Veterans without financial resources may be honored with burial benefits earned through service to our Nation.

VA recently revised annual reimbursement allowances. The maximum allowable reimbursement payable in calendar year 2019 for qualifying interments is $2,681 for a casket and $162 for an urn. Please see the Casket/Urn Reimbursement for Unclaimed Veterans Remains Fact Sheet which explains the requirements and procedures for obtaining the reimbursement.  Applicants must submit a VA Form 40-10088 Reimbursement of Casket/Urn

Additional resources are available to assist you with funeral and transportation expenses for unclaimed Veterans remains when there are insufficient resources.  Please see this Unclaimed Veterans Remains Fact Sheet

Thank you for your continued support in providing honorable and dignified burials for unclaimed Veterans without sufficient financial resources.  Should you have additional questions regarding the claim forms, please contact us using our Inquiry Routing & Information System https://iris.custhelp.com, so we can track inquiries and respond promptly. 

For information on VA burial benefits, visit http://www.cem.va.gov or call (800) 827-1000.  Please look for our future e-mails on burial and memorial benefits available for eligible Veterans and spouses.  Also, please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign-up for notifications, future e-mail updates and information regarding VA memorial benefits through GovDelivery at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/usvanca/subscriber/new