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Military Funeral Honours Stipend — $75 for the First Service, $30 for the Next Four

The state reimburses congressionally chartered veterans service organisations whose honour guards perform funeral honours, at $75 for the first service of the day and $30 for up to four more, capped at $195 a day. Requests are due within fifteen days of the service.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: $75 for the first service, $30 for up to four more, maximum $195 a day — paid to the honour guard organisation

Local units of congressionally chartered veterans service organisations, or their auxiliaries, may receive funding to provide stipends to honour guards and students who perform Full honours — flag folding, rifle detail and Taps — or Basic honours — flag folding and Taps.
The honours may be performed for eligible veterans buried in national, state or private cemeteries.
Rates are $75 for the first service and $30 for up to four additional services per day, to a maximum of $195 a day. Reimbursement depends on available funds.
Requests must be submitted within fifteen days of the honours service.
The organisation must send a copy of its congressional charter to the stipend programme manager, and must register as a state supplier to obtain a vendor identification number before it can be paid.
A veteran interred at a national or state cemetery must also meet the federal burial and memorial benefit guidelines.

Who is entitled to it

The programme requires the discharge to be honourable or under honourable conditions.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Within 15 days of the honours service

1Families: ask the funeral director which veterans service organisation will provide the honour guard, and mention that the state stipend exists. It is the reason a small post can send a team.
2Organisations: register as a state supplier and get the vendor identification number before your first service, not after — the fifteen-day clock does not wait for registration.
3Send the application to the stipend programme manager by email or fax. The programme asks specifically that DD-214s are not attached to the email.
4Confirm the discharge is listed as Honorable or Under Honorable Conditions before claiming; your county veterans service officer can help verify eligibility.
5Treat reimbursement as conditional. The programme states plainly that it depends on available funds.

Form: MFHS application
File with: Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Military Funeral Honors Stipend programme
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThis is not a payment to a bereaved family and should never be described as one. It reimburses the organisation that fields the honour guard. The benefit to a family is that the honours happen.

Worth knowingFederal law already entitles an eligible veteran to military funeral honours on the family’s request. This stipend exists because the Department of Defense partnership programme leans on volunteer VSO teams to fill out those details, and volunteers still have to buy fuel.

Sources

authority · published policyDepartment of Military and Veterans Affairs — Military Funeral Honors Stipend

Why only one source type: The programme page is the operating authority and states the rates, the deadline and the eligibility conditions; no statute host could be read, as every colorado.gov host refuses automated fetching.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.