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Iowa Veterans Cemetery — Free for the Veteran, $300 for a Spouse or Child

The state runs its own veterans cemetery near Van Meter in Dallas County. Interment is at no cost to an honorably discharged veteran; the department’s published fee for a spouse or dependent child is $300. Pre-registration is available before there is any need.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The state runs its own veterans cemetery near Van Meter in Dallas County. Interment is at no cost to an honorably discharged veteran; the department’s published fee for a spouse or dependent child is $300. Pre-registration is available before there is any need.

What it's worth: No cost for the veteran; $300 for a spouse or dependent child

  • The $300 is the department’s published charge for a spouse or dependent child, not a charge to the veteran. A veteran’s own interment is stated as free.
  • The weight reflects what a family avoids paying for a plot, opening and closing, rather than the $300 figure itself.
  • The statute names no fee at all. It authorises the department to accept federal plot allowance payments, which is the mechanism that keeps the veteran’s side free.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge is honorable or general under honorable conditions.
  • 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

  1. 1Pre-register. The department publishes a pre-need form so eligibility is settled while there is time to correct a record, rather than in the days after a death.
  2. 2The cemetery is in rural Dallas County near Van Meter and was dedicated on 3 July 2008. It is where the state holds its official Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies.
  3. 3Ask what the $300 covers before assuming it is the whole family cost. The department publishes it as the charge for a spouse or dependent child; a funeral itself is separate and is not paid here.
  4. 4A separate Iowa duty runs alongside this one: funeral directors file an armed forces grave registration for every veteran burial or cremation in the state, on form 582-1002.
  5. 5If the county rather than the state is bearing the cost, look at the county relief route as well — the county commission of veteran affairs is responsible for interring a veteran who died without sufficient means.
Form
Iowa Veterans Cemetery pre-registration form, or a funeral director’s request at need
File with
Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThe statute ring-fences the money. Everything received for the cemetery — federal grants, subdivision funding, private donations, plot allowances, even lease income from the land — goes into a dedicated account, does not revert at year end, and may be spent only on the cemetery.
Worth knowingThe department may accept land for cemetery use from the federal government, the state, its subdivisions or private sources, and may lease or use that land for other purposes so long as it does not interfere with the cemetery. That is how a second site could appear without new appropriations.
Known gapThe cemetery’s own eligibility page could not be read this session — the department’s deep links under dva.iowa.gov returned 404 while the state-benefits index page served fine. Whether the $300 also applies to a surviving spouse who has remarried, and the treatment of cremated remains, are unverified.

Sources

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