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County Interment Allowance — Up to $500, Plus $100 to Ship the Headstone

When a Montana resident who was a veteran dies, the county of residence must pay a sum not exceeding $500 towards interment expenses, and up to $100 more for shipping the headstone — unless the heirs or personal representative waive the benefit.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

When a Montana resident who was a veteran dies, the county of residence must pay a sum not exceeding $500 towards interment expenses, and up to $100 more for shipping the headstone — unless the heirs or personal representative waive the benefit.

What it's worth: Up to $500 towards interment, plus up to $100 for shipping the headstone

  • The two caps are separate in the statute — $500 for interment expenses and up to $100 for headstone shipping — so the outside figure is $600 where both are claimed.
  • It is a ceiling, not a flat payment: the statute says a sum "not to exceed" $500, so the county pays the expense up to that limit rather than writing a fixed cheque.

Who is entitled to it

  • The allowance is paid on the death of the veteran.
  • The heirs or personal representative are the ones who claim it or waive it.
  • 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. 1Establish the right county first. The allowance is paid by the county where the veteran RESIDED, worked out under the residence rules the election code uses — not the county where the death or the funeral happened.
  2. 2There is a fallback if residence is genuinely unclear: where intent cannot be determined, the county of residence at the time the veteran was admitted to a state facility pays.
  3. 3Do not let the benefit be waived by accident. The allowance is payable unless the heirs or the personal representative waive it, so anyone signing paperwork on the estate’s behalf should know it exists first.
  4. 4Claim the headstone shipping separately. It is a distinct allowance of up to $100 on top of the interment sum, and it is easy to leave unclaimed.
  5. 5A county veterans’ interment supervisor administers this and reports actions and expenses, so ask the county for that officer by name rather than working through general county offices.
  6. 6The chapter does not reach a veteran who had no legal residence in this state at death, so a family bringing a veteran home for burial from elsewhere is outside it.
Form
A claim to the county, presented through the veterans’ interment supervisor
File with
The county of the veteran’s residence at death
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is a county obligation, not a state one, and it is not means-tested on its face — §10-2-501 attaches to the veteran’s residence, not to indigency. Families are often told the county only pays where there is no money, which is not what the section says.
Worth knowingThe residence test points at the election code’s residence rules, which turn on intent. That matters for a veteran who spent their last years in care outside their home county: the statute supplies a specific fallback for exactly that case.
Known gapWhether a county has adopted a form, and how quickly it pays, is not in the statute. Neither is any interaction with the state veterans’ cemeteries, whose interment charges were not researched this session.

Sources

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