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The County Pays for the Funeral — and Not in a Pauper's Cemetery

Where a Nebraska veteran with an honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge dies without sufficient means for a funeral, the county of their legal residence at death pays for a decent interment. The statute says something few burial provisions do: the burial may NOT be in a cemetery used exclusively for the pauper dead. The county veterans service committee handles it and the county board audits and pays. The dollar limit is not published in the sources reviewed, so ask rather than assume it is nominal.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

Where a Nebraska veteran with an honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge dies without sufficient means for a funeral, the county of their legal residence at death pays for a decent interment. The statute says something few burial provisions do: the burial may NOT be in a cemetery used exclusively for the pauper dead. The county veterans service committee handles it and the county board audits and pays. The dollar limit is not published in the sources reviewed, so ask rather than assume it is nominal.

What it's worth: The cost of a decent interment, paid by the county

  • Paid by the COUNTY OF THE VETERAN'S LEGAL RESIDENCE AT DEATH.
  • The veteran must have died WITHOUT SUFFICIENT MEANS for funeral expenses.
  • The burial may NOT be in a cemetery used exclusively for the pauper dead.
  • The county veterans service committee handles it; the county board audits and pays.
  • THE DOLLAR LIMIT IS NOT ESTABLISHED from the sources reviewed. Ask the county veterans service committee.
  • This is separate from the state veterans cemeteries, which have their own eligibility.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are in one of the groups who can raise this.
  • The discharge meets the test.
  • Nebraska counties.

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. 1Contact the county veterans service committee in the county where the veteran lived at death — not where they died.
  2. 2Do this BEFORE committing to a funeral director's estimate. The county audits the cost.
  3. 3Have the discharge papers. The committee can help recover them.
  4. 4Ask what the county's current limit is; it is not published.
  5. 5Ask about the state veterans cemeteries too — interment there is a separate route with its own eligibility.
Form
Application to the county veterans service committee
File with
Your county veterans service committee
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThe county of legal residence at death pays, which is not necessarily the county where the death happened. Ask the right county first.

Sources

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