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burialstate

$300 Towards the Burial — Paid by the County, Not the State

Veterans, and a spouse or surviving spouse, who meet residency and asset limits may qualify for a $300 burial expense paid by the County Board of Commissioners or the Board of County Auditors.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Veterans, and a spouse or surviving spouse, who meet residency and asset limits may qualify for a $300 burial expense paid by the County Board of Commissioners or the Board of County Auditors.

What it's worth: $300 towards burial expenses, where the county allows it

  • The agency states the figure as a $300 burial expense. It is a contribution towards the bill rather than a burial benefit in kind.
  • The agency states that residency and asset limits apply but does not publish either. Whether a particular family clears them is a county question, so the $300 is a ceiling on a possibility rather than a sum to plan on.
  • The payment comes from the County Board of Commissioners or the Board of County Auditors, which means the practice — and the paperwork — varies across Michigan’s 83 counties.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran, or a spouse or surviving spouse.
  • Your home is in Michigan.

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: County-set — ask as soon as the funeral is arranged
  1. 1Go to the county, not the State. The agency states the payment is made by the County Board of Commissioners or the Board of County Auditors, so a claim sent to the state agency is a claim in the wrong place.
  2. 2Ask the county veterans affairs office to put the claim in for you — that office exists to do exactly this and knows the local practice.
  3. 3Ask for the residency and asset limits in writing before you rely on the money. The agency states that both apply but publishes neither, and they are what decides most claims.
  4. 4A spouse or surviving spouse is named in their own right, not only the veteran — so a widow arranging her own affairs should ask as well.
  5. 5File the federal claim in the same appointment. The federal VA burial allowance is a separate and generally larger benefit, and the county officer can do both at once.
  6. 6Get the itemised funeral invoice. Wherever a burial expense is reimbursed rather than granted, the invoice is what the board actually reads.
File with
Your county veterans affairs office, which puts the claim to the County Board
Documents you will need
dd214 · death certificate
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe agency’s own burial page — the one a grieving family is sent to — describes only federal benefits and never mentions this $300. It appears on the benefits summary page instead. A family that reads the burial page alone will never learn the county payment exists.
Worth knowingBecause the money comes from a county board rather than the State, two families in neighbouring counties can get different answers on the same facts. That is not an error by either county; it is how the payment is structured.
Known gapNeither the residency test, the asset limit, the deadline nor the application form is published where we could read it, and Michigan’s counties are not researched in this corpus. Treat the $300 as a question for the county office rather than as a figure to budget on.

Sources

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