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County Relief for an Indigent Veteran — Food, Shelter, Utilities, Medical and a Funeral

Every county board of supervisors may appropriate money for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, medical benefits and a funeral for indigent veterans living in the county, and for their indigent spouses, surviving spouses and minor children. Burial is a duty, not a discretion.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Living costs and funeral expenses met by the county, at a level each board of supervisors sets

No figure is claimed because the statute contains none. Each board of supervisors decides its own appropriation, and the funeral cap is "an amount established by the board of supervisors" — 99 different numbers, none of them published in the Code.
The relief is discretionary as to the appropriation ("may appropriate") but the burial duty is not: the commission "is responsible for" interring a veteran who died without sufficient means.

Who is entitled to it

You served.
Indigent spouses, surviving spouses and minor children under eighteen are named alongside the veteran.
You are 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

1Go to the county commission of veteran affairs office where you legally reside — the money follows legal residence in the county, not where the need arose.
2The named categories are food, clothing, shelter, utilities, medical benefits and a funeral. Utilities are on that list by name, which matters because most household relief programmes leave them out.
3It costs nothing to ask. Iowa Code forbids the department of veterans affairs and county veteran affairs offices from charging for any service they provide.
4The office must exist and must be open: a county under 30,000 people has to staff it at least twenty hours a week, 30,000 to 60,000 at least thirty hours, and 60,000 or more a full forty. The opening hours must be posted outside the office.
5Spending is by joint action of the board of supervisors and the commission, so a decision may wait on both.
6For a funeral, the county of RESIDENCE pays, not the county where the death occurred. That is worth knowing when a veteran dies in hospital away from home.
7Nothing about a grant becomes public. Neither the board of supervisors nor the commission may publish the names of veterans or families who receive benefits under this chapter.

Form: County veteran relief application, set locally
File with: Your county commission of veteran affairs
Documents you will need: dd214
Confirm with the office: We have not verified the renewal behaviour.

CorrectionCounty veteran relief is usually described as help with claims paperwork. That is §35B.6. §35B.14 is separate and is actual money: the board of supervisors may appropriate for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, medical benefits and a funeral. Veterans who only ever hear about the claims office never learn the relief exists.

Worth knowingThe burial provision is drafted as an obligation on the commission rather than a discretion, and it covers the veteran, a spouse, surviving spouse or child who died without sufficient means to defray the funeral. The commission may pay up to an amount the board of supervisors sets.

Known gapWhat any single county actually appropriates, what its indigency test is, and what it caps a funeral at were not researched. There are 99 counties and none of their figures are published in the Code.

Sources

authority · statuteIowa Code §35B.14 — County appropriation, burial expenses, audit
operating · statuteIowa Code §35B.6 — County commissions of veteran affairs: duties, no charge for service, minimum office hours

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