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burialstate

Burial Honor Guard Support Fund — Money Behind the Detail at the Graveside

A treasury fund offsets what state chapters of congressionally chartered veterans service organisations spend providing a well-equipped, properly trained honour guard burial detail at a qualifying veteran’s funeral. Disbursements are not less than $50 per funeral, up to a cap set annually.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A treasury fund offsets what state chapters of congressionally chartered veterans service organisations spend providing a well-equipped, properly trained honour guard burial detail at a qualifying veteran’s funeral. Disbursements are not less than $50 per funeral, up to a cap set annually.

What it's worth: At least $50 per funeral to the organisation providing the honour guard

  • The section establishes a fund separate and distinct from the general fund, receiving gifts, grants, federal funds and donations, together with amounts appropriated by the General Assembly.
  • The Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or a representative, may authorise a disbursement of not less than fifty dollars, but not exceeding the per-funeral cap the Secretary establishes annually.
  • The recipient is a South Carolina chapter of a congressionally chartered veterans service organisation that provided the detail — not the family.
  • The upper figure moves every year by the Secretary’s decision, so only the floor is stated as a number here.

Who is entitled to it

  • The honours are for the veteran; the family is usually the one arranging them.
  • Your home is in South Carolina.

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: Set by the department; ask before the funeral, not after
  1. 1Ask the funeral director early whether a veterans service organisation honour guard is being arranged. This fund exists to make that easier to say yes to.
  2. 2Ring the local chapter of a congressionally chartered organisation directly if the funeral home does not offer it. The fund reimburses their costs, so the request is less of an imposition than families assume.
  3. 3Tell the chapter about the fund by name and section number if they have not claimed from it — it was only enacted in June 2022 and is not widely known.
  4. 4Remember the family does not apply. The disbursement runs to the organisation, and nothing here is paid to a survivor.
  5. 5Ask the department what this year’s per-funeral cap is. The floor is fifty dollars; the ceiling is set annually and is not published in the section.
  6. 6Military funeral honours from the armed forces themselves are a separate federal entitlement. Ask about both, not one instead of the other.
Form
Request for disbursement by the veterans service organisation chapter
File with
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs — the organisation files, not the family
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThis is a supply-side benefit. Its value to a family is that an honour guard is more likely to be available and properly equipped, not that anyone hands the family money.
Known gapWhat makes a veteran "qualifying" for these purposes, and the current annual cap, were not established this session. Both are questions for the department.

Sources

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