Getting the Veterans Benefits You Deserve with National Cremation
Eligible military veterans are entitled to certain benefits when it comes to cremation and burial. If your loved one has been an honorably discharged veteran, National Cremation helps you obtain benefits in accordance with the US Department of Veterans Affairs service arrangements.
1. What’s Included in the Veteran’s Cremation Benefits?
The US Department of Veterans Affairs website provides detailed information on veterans and their survivor’s benefits when you choose cremation or burial. It’s helpful to know that an eligible veteran receives available space in any of 131 national cemeteries, of which 21 only accept cremated remains. Other benefits include a free headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate as well as a number of survivor’s compensation, available when you apply at the Veterans Benefits Administration office.
2. Who is Eligible to Receive Benefits?
If you are a surviving family member of a veteran and choose to have your loved one’s remains cremated, you are entitled to a variety of reimbursement from the government as long as the veteran meets certain eligibility requirements stated in the fact sheet and if you as a family member have not been automatically paid nor applied for a claim.
3. How Can National Cremation Help Me Obtain My Veteran’s Cremation Benefits?
When you choose cremation for your loved one, National Cremation can help you facilitate this service promptly and professionally. National Cremation specializes in helping veterans’ families arrange the cremation process, complete the paperwork in order to obtain symbolic military honors such as burial flags, headstones, markers, and Presidential Memorial Certificates, and provide assistance on securing reimbursement benefits that you and your loved one are entitled to.
4. Arranging the Service
National Cremation’s experienced staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help you when a death has occurred. As soon as we are notified by a family member, we gather the necessary information for the paperwork and arrange for the veteran’s body to be transferred to our care. Please call 855.4MY.WISH or 855.469.9474 or contact one of our locations should you need immediate assistance on the arrangement of a veterans cremation service.
5. Symbols of Military Honor
National Cremation, through the Department of Veterans Affairs, helps you obtain a free headstone or marker for your loved one to be placed in an unmarked grave at any national cemetery where you choose the veteran’s cremated ashes to be inurned or buried. In addition, you can also request a Presidential Memorial Certificate. For those whose decedents are eligible veterans of the US Armed Forces, a burial flag is provided to accompany the urn to honor the memory of the veteran who served our country.
6. Cremation Reimbursement
The family of a deceased veteran is entitled to reimbursement on cremation expenses. In 2014, the government has facilitated this process with automatic payment to the surviving family member(s) without the need to immediately apply for the benefits. Also, if the veteran’s family member(s) submitted a claim on transportation and plot or interment reimbursement, the VA may also pay those expenses.
Burial or cremation reimbursement varies from a maximum of $2,000 on a service-connected death if the veteran died on or after September 11, 2001, or a minimum of $300 if the veteran died on or after October 1, 2014, on a non-service-connected death.
National Cremation is the nation’s oldest and largest provider of simple and affordable cremation services. Whether you have an immediate need or want to plan your cremation services in advance, we’re always available to assist you and your family. Contact us online or call (855)-469-9474 today.
