Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Massachusetts benefits
burialstate

Veterans Memorial Cemeteries — No Charge for the Veteran, $300 or $150 for Family

Two Commonwealth-operated cemeteries, at Agawam and Winchendon. There is no charge to bury an eligible veteran. A spouse or dependant costs $300 for a full casket burial or $150 for a cremation interment, payable only at the time of interment.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Two Commonwealth-operated cemeteries, at Agawam and Winchendon. There is no charge to bury an eligible veteran. A spouse or dependant costs $300 for a full casket burial or $150 for a cremation interment, payable only at the time of interment.

What it's worth: No charge for the veteran; $300 full casket or $150 cremation for a spouse or dependant

  • The office states: veterans, no charge; spouse and dependants, $300 full casket burial and $150 cremation interment, payable only at the time of interment.
  • There is a $200 fee for all disinterments, and the office states all fees are subject to change without notice.
  • What the Commonwealth provides alongside the interment is perpetual care of the landscaped grounds and gravesite, an indoor committal chapel for interment services, and upright granite headstones or niche covers for all interments.

Who is entitled to it

  • The cemeteries are open to eligible veterans.
  • Spouses and dependants may be interred alongside the veteran, for a fee.
  • Your home is in Massachusetts.

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. 1Check which of the three military-service routes fits. First: discharged or released from active-duty service other than for training, under honorable conditions.
  2. 2Second, and the one most often missed: at least 20 years in the National Guard or the United States Reserve, in receipt of a military pension or holding documentation that retirement pay will start at age 60 in accordance with Title 10, Chapter 1223. No active-duty service is needed on this route.
  3. 3Third: any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died on active duty.
  4. 4Assemble the four documents the office asks for: the Registration for Interment Application, all military discharge paperwork, a birth certificate or driver’s licence or state identification card, and a marriage certificate where it applies.
  5. 5Submit the paperwork and let staff determine eligibility. The office states a determination is made once the paperwork is submitted, which is why pre-registration removes the worst of the pressure later.
  6. 6Budget the family fee separately from the veteran’s. It is payable only at the time of interment, so it is not a deposit — but it is a bill that arrives on the hardest day.
  7. 7Book the committal service by appointment. Services run Monday to Friday, with the 9:00 and 15:00 slots reserved for inurnments.
  8. 8Ask about the $200 disinterment fee before agreeing to any plan that might involve moving a burial later.
Form
Registration for Interment Application
File with
Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Agawam or at Winchendon
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionTwenty years in the Guard or the reserves with a pension, or with documentation of retirement pay at 60, is a complete route on its own. A family that assumes active-duty service is required rules itself out of a benefit the office grants.
Worth knowingThe family fee is charged at interment, not at registration. Pre-registering costs nothing and settles the eligibility question in advance, which is the part that is hardest to do in a hurry.
Known gapThe office states all fees are subject to change without notice, and we hold no residency condition for these cemeteries because the eligibility page states none. Confirm both with the cemetery before relying on them.

Sources

Why only one source type: The office publishes eligibility and the fee schedule on a single page it owns; the cemeteries have no separate operating authority, and direct retrieval of the other cemetery pages was refused this session.

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