burialstate

Up to $750 Towards a Burial or Cremation — and the VA Money Comes Off It

The Department of Human Services will pay up to $750 towards burial or cremation where the deceased was on assistance. Total resources of $1,500 or more end the payment, federal VA death benefits are deducted, and the claim must be in within 30 days.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Up to $750 — reduced by other resources, including federal VA death benefits

§283.21(a) states the Department’s payment for burial or cremation, or both, will not exceed $750. That is a ceiling, not an entitlement.
§283.21(b)(1) states that where total resources equal or exceed $1,500 the Department makes no payment. Between those two numbers the payment is reduced rather than refused.
The deductible resources in §283.22(b) include life insurance death benefits designated for burial, lodge or fraternal burial benefits, the Social Security lump-sum death benefit, the railroad retirement lump sum, workers’ compensation and accidental death awards, and Department of Veterans Affairs death benefits.
Clothing, flowers and obituaries are not deducted, under §283.22(a) — which matters when a family is deciding what the estate pays for directly.

Who is entitled to it

You are the veteran, or a family member arranging the funeral.
Your home is in Pennsylvania.

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: Within 30 days of the death — §283.7

1Move fast. §283.7 requires the application within 30 days of death, with only limited exceptions for unusual circumstances or where a notice about resources is still pending.
2Check the eligibility gate before you plan around the money. §283.4 requires the deceased to have been receiving Cash Assistance, General Assistance, State Blind Pension, SSI or a State Supplementary Payment at the time of death, with narrow exceptions for former recipients hospitalised within three months of death and for a stillborn child.
3Use a funeral director who is a registered Department provider. The Department states the registration requirement and gives 1-800-537-8862, option 3, for enrolment questions.
4Add up the resources honestly before filing. At $1,500 or more the payment is nil, so a family that expects a small payment and receives none has usually crossed that line without noticing.
5Expect the federal VA burial money to be deducted. Department of Veterans Affairs death benefits sit on the deductible list in §283.22(b), so the two do not stack.
6Keep clothing, flowers and the obituary on a separate line of the invoice — §283.22(a) treats those as not deductible, and a clean invoice makes that easy to show.

File with: Your county assistance office, through a funeral director registered with the Department
Documents you will need: death certificate
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionDMVA lists this under state veterans programmes, which invites a veteran’s family to read it as a veterans’ burial allowance. It is not one. Nothing in Chapter 283 mentions service, and a veteran who was never on assistance is outside it entirely.

CorrectionThe federal VA death benefit does not stack with this payment — it is deducted from it under §283.22(b). Planning on both is planning on money that will not arrive.

Known gapThe Department’s own public page states neither the $750 maximum, the $1,500 resource line nor the 30-day deadline. All three come from the Pennsylvania Code, so take the section numbers to the county assistance office rather than the web page.

Sources

authority · regulation55 Pa. Code Chapter 283 — Burial and cremation payments (§§283.4, 283.7, 283.21, 283.22)
operating · published policyPA Department of Human Services — Burial and Cremation Assistance

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