burialstate

State Veterans Cemeteries — No Fee for the Veteran, and None for a Spouse or Dependent Child

Five state veterans cemeteries inter eligible veterans at no cost, with a white upright marble headstone at government expense. The department states there is no fee for interment of a veteran’s spouse or eligible dependent children either. Since June 2026, eight years of reserve or guard service qualifies.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No cost for an eligible interment, and a white upright marble headstone at government expense

The cost page states there is no cost if the eligibility requirements are met, and separately that there is no fee for the interment of a veteran’s spouse or eligible dependent children.
No dollar figure is claimed. The saving is whatever a plot, an interment and a marker would have cost privately, which the department does not publish.
Outer containers are not required by the department, so a vault is a choice rather than a cost the cemetery imposes.

Who is entitled to it

Interment runs to the eligible veteran.
A spouse or eligible dependent child is interred without a fee.
Your discharge is of the character the cemeteries accept.
Your home is in Tennessee.

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

1Have the verification information ready: the veteran’s full name, date of birth, service and social security numbers, and the entry and discharge dates for active duty. All of it is on the DD Form 214.
2Check which active-duty test applies to you, because the dates matter. Discharge or release before 7 September 1980 under conditions other than dishonorable is enough on its own. For an enlisted person who entered active duty after 7 September 1980, or an officer commissioned after 17 October 1981, the test is a continuous period of at least 24 months or the full period called or ordered to active duty, whichever is shorter.
3If you fall short of 24 months, read the exceptions before giving up: release because of a hardship discharge, a compensable service-connected disability, or release because of a service-connected disability each qualify.
4Reserve and National Guard members have their own routes: receipt of VA compensation or pension, twenty or more years of reserve or guard service with entitlement to retirement pay, death under honorable conditions while on active duty for training, completing the full period called up, death under honorable conditions while performing full-time Active Guard Reserve service, at least 24 months of active service, or discharge due to service-connected disability while on active duty.
5Since 6 June 2026 there is a much wider reserve route: honorable service in a reserve component, the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard for at least eight years collectively, or having been called to service under state orders regardless of length.
6Ask about cremation if that is your plan. Columbarium services are offered at the East Tennessee cemetery on John Sevier Highway, at Middle Tennessee, at West Tennessee, and at the cemetery at Parkers Crossroads.
7Expect a temporary marker first. The permanent white upright marble headstone is delivered in roughly three to four months.

Form: Interment application to the cemetery, with the veteran’s discharge papers
File with: The Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery you have chosen
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionA $700 charge for interring an eligible dependent circulates widely in third-party summaries. The department’s own cost page states there is no fee for the interment of a veteran’s spouse or eligible dependent children. Ask the cemetery to confirm in writing before paying anyone anything.

CorrectionThe eight-year reserve and guard route is new as of 6 June 2026 and has not reached most published guidance. A guard member who served eight years collectively, or who was called to service under state orders for any length of time, is now eligible where they previously were not.

Worth knowingThe cost page opens "There is no cost if eligibility requirements are met except under the following conditions" and then lists the no-fee treatment of spouses and dependants, cremation, outer containers and headstones. We read no exception that imposes a charge, but the phrasing suggests the department contemplates some — ask the cemetery whether any applies to you.

Known gapNo Tennessee residency requirement appears on the eligibility page we read. We do not read that silence as proof there is none; the cemetery office is the place to settle it if the veteran lived elsewhere.

Known gapThe eligibility page does not address spouses and dependants — that comes from the cost page. The conditions under which a dependent child counts as eligible are therefore not established here.

Known gapTenn. Code sections governing the cemeteries were not read this session, so the statutory basis and the exact wording of the June 2026 amendment are unverified.

Sources

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