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burialstate

Burial in a Missouri State Veterans Cemetery Costs Nothing — and Needs No Residency

Missouri runs five state veterans cemeteries — Springfield, Higginsville, Bloomfield, Fort Leonard Wood and Jacksonville — and interment is at no cost: grave opening and closing, the concrete liner, a granite headstone, coordination of military honours, and perpetual care. THERE IS NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT, which is unusual; a veteran who never lived in Missouri may be buried there. Service tests: discharge under honorable conditions, 24 consecutive months of active duty for those who enlisted after 7 September 1980, or 20 creditable years toward retired pay for Guard and Reserve. A capital-crime conviction bars burial.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

Missouri runs five state veterans cemeteries — Springfield, Higginsville, Bloomfield, Fort Leonard Wood and Jacksonville — and interment is at no cost: grave opening and closing, the concrete liner, a granite headstone, coordination of military honours, and perpetual care. THERE IS NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT, which is unusual; a veteran who never lived in Missouri may be buried there. Service tests: discharge under honorable conditions, 24 consecutive months of active duty for those who enlisted after 7 September 1980, or 20 creditable years toward retired pay for Guard and Reserve. A capital-crime conviction bars burial.

What it's worth: No-cost interment, headstone, liner, honours coordination and perpetual care

  • Five operational cemeteries: Springfield, Higginsville, Bloomfield, Fort Leonard Wood and Jacksonville.
  • Interment is at no cost and includes grave opening and closing, a concrete liner, a granite headstone, coordination of military honours and perpetual care.
  • THERE IS NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT.
  • Discharge under honorable conditions is required.
  • Those who enlisted after 7 SEPTEMBER 1980 need 24 consecutive months of active duty.
  • Guard and Reserve members need 20 creditable years toward retired pay.
  • A CAPITAL-CRIME CONVICTION BARS BURIAL.
  • The cost stated is of interment. Funeral director charges, transport and any private ceremony are separate.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are in one of the groups this reaches.
  • The discharge was under honorable conditions.
  • Missouri's state veterans cemeteries.

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. 1Ask for a PRE-NEED eligibility determination while there is no time pressure. It is the single most useful thing a family can hold.
  2. 2Have the DD214. Missouri Veterans Commission can help recover one.
  3. 3Choose the cemetery in advance. The five are far apart and the choice is easier made calmly.
  4. 4Do not rule it out because the veteran never lived in Missouri — there is no residency test.
  5. 5Ask what the funeral director's own charges will be. Those are not covered.
Form
Pre-need eligibility determination, Missouri Veterans Commission
File with
Missouri Veterans Commission
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThe 24-month rule catches people out. It applies to those who enlisted after 7 September 1980, and a shorter enlistment can fall outside it even with an honorable discharge — ask before assuming either way.

Sources

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