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The State Veterans Cemetery — Free for the Veteran, Not Always for the Spouse

A 280-plus acre state cemetery at Randolph Center, run by the state veterans office rather than by a federal agency. Veterans, spouses and some dependants may be buried there. The distinction families need in advance: a spouse or dependant burial may carry a fee where the veteran's does not.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No cost for the veteran in the government-marker sections; a spouse or dependent child pays an opening and closing fee of $225 for an urn or $525 for a casket, payable in advance

The office states that veterans, veterans' spouses and some dependants are eligible.
In-ground casket, in-ground cremation and above-ground columbarium options are offered.
Burials are scheduled by telephone with the office; casket burials run Tuesday to Friday and urn burials Monday to Friday, at set times. There are no weekend burials.
The office's own client guidelines state there is no cost for the veteran to be buried in the government issued marker sections of the cemetery.
The guidelines state an opening and closing fee for a spouse or dependent child, currently $225 for an urn and $525 for a casket, subject to change, and payable to the cemetery in advance.
Eligibility is stated as open to members of the armed forces who met a minimum active-duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable; a spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children and, in certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible.
Guard and Reserve members with 20 years of service, evidenced by a retirement letter, are also eligible.
The state holds title to all grave lots and provides perpetual care of the grave sites.
Sections H, I, J and K are shared lots; H, I and K take urns only and J takes caskets only with a shared crypt provided.
Sections A to F are open for burials from early May through November, weather permitting, and closed from December through April; sections H, I, J and K are available year-round.
Families and funeral directors have a maximum of 30 minutes from the scheduled start time to complete the committal, of which 10 minutes is the military honours presentation where applicable.
Specific lots or plots may not be reserved, and government-marker sections are filled sequentially using the next available lot in the chosen section.

Who is entitled to it

Your discharge characterisation is within the usual range for state veteran programmes.
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

1Pre-register. The application exists precisely so eligibility is settled while there is time to argue about it, rather than in the two days after a death.
2Budget the spouse or dependent fee now: $225 for an urn, $525 for a casket. That is the office's own published figure, it is stated as subject to change, and it MAY BE PAID IN ADVANCE — which is unusual and worth doing, because several comparable state cemeteries refuse prepayment entirely.
3Note that the veteran is free only in the government issued marker sections. That qualification is in the office's guidelines and it is the sentence that decides whether a family is quoted nothing or quoted something.
4Do not plan a winter burial in sections A to F. Those close from December through April; sections H, I, J and K are the year-round ones, and they are shared-lot sections with their own rules on urns and caskets.
5Plan the service for 30 minutes and not a minute more, including 10 minutes for military honours. The limit is stated flatly, and it shapes how many people can speak.
6Decide between casket, in-ground cremation and columbarium in advance. All three are offered and they price and schedule differently.
7Note the scheduling window before planning a service. Casket burials run Tuesday to Friday, urn burials Monday to Friday, at fixed times, and there are no weekend burials — which shapes travel plans for family coming from a distance.
8Keep the discharge document with the pre-registration paperwork rather than in a safe deposit box. A box that cannot be opened for a week is the classic reason a burial slips.
9Ask about the federal marker and the burial flag in the same call. They come from a different system and nobody joins them up for you.

Form: Cemetery application, available from the office as a downloadable form
File with: The state Office of Veterans Affairs
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

Correction"Free burial for veterans" is the phrase everyone carries away, and it is only half of it. The office charges an opening and closing fee for a spouse or dependent child — $225 for an urn, $525 for a casket — and the veteran is free only in the government issued marker sections. That is the half that lands on a surviving family.

Worth knowingThe fee schedule does not appear on the office's cemetery web page at all; it is in the client guidelines document, which is where the seasonal closures and the shared-lot rules also live. A family working only from the web page will be surprised three separate times.

Known gapThe guidelines state a minimum active-duty service requirement without naming the number of days, and state no residency requirement either way. Settle both at pre-registration, in writing.

Sources

authority · published policyOffice of Veterans Affairs — Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery
operating · published policyOffice of Veterans Affairs — programmes administered by the office
operating · fee scheduleOffice of Veterans Affairs — Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery client guidelines (September 2025), eligibility, cost, sections and burial seasons

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