burialstate

State Veterans Cemeteries — The Commonwealth Pays the Spouse’s Burial Fee

At a state-operated veterans cemetery the Commonwealth pays the burial fee for a member of the National Guard and Reserve, and for a deceased spouse of a member or veteran — whether the spouse dies before or after them. Burial vaults are supplied at cost to eligible veterans and their family members.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: The burial fee for a Guard or Reserve member or for a spouse, paid by the Commonwealth; vaults at cost

Both provisions open "From such funds as may be appropriated or otherwise received for such purpose". They are contingent on appropriation, not unconditional.
The statute does not name the fee it pays, and we did not read the cemeteries’ own fee schedule this session, so we carry no dollar figure.
"At cost" for a vault means without a markup, not free. It is still a payment the family makes.

Who is entitled to it

Members of the National Guard and Reserve have their burial fee paid, and vaults are supplied at cost to eligible veterans.
The Commonwealth pays the burial fee for a deceased spouse, and vaults are at cost for family members.
Your discharge is of the character these cemeteries are built around.
Your home is in Virginia.

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

1Raise the burial fee provision by name with the cemetery. It is not a discount you negotiate: § 2.2-2001 B 2 says the Commonwealth shall pay the fee for a member of the National Guard and Reserve, and for a deceased spouse of a member or veteran.
2If a spouse died first, say so. The statute covers the spouse "regardless of whether such spouse’s death precedes or succeeds the death of the member or veteran" — a widow or widower buried years before the veteran is inside the provision, not outside it.
3Ask for the vault at cost rather than buying one elsewhere. The Department is directed to provide burial vaults at cost to eligible veterans and their family members interred at state-operated cemeteries.
4Take a DD Form 214 or equivalent proof of service to the cemetery, and a marriage certificate where a spouse’s interment is involved.
5Ask the Department for its eligibility guidelines. § 2.2-2001 requires it to establish guidelines determining eligibility of Virginia-domiciled veterans and their spouses, orphans and dependants for the programmes it administers — that document, rather than folklore, is what governs.
6Settle eligibility before it is needed. The determination is the slow part and the worst time to start it is the week of a funeral.

Form: Interment application to the state veterans cemetery
File with: The Virginia Department of Veterans Services cemetery you have chosen
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThe spouse’s burial fee is the charge families are most often quoted at a state veterans cemetery, and here the Commonwealth is directed to pay it. A family being asked for it should raise § 2.2-2001 B 2 rather than pay and move on.

CorrectionThe order of death does not matter. The statute expressly covers a spouse whose death precedes the member or veteran’s, which closes the gap families most often fall into.

Worth knowingBoth provisions are conditioned on appropriated or received funds. That is a real qualification: the duty is to pay from money provided for the purpose, so ask the cemetery what the current position is rather than assuming.

Worth knowing"At cost" is not "free". The vault provision removes the markup, not the price.

Known gapThe Department of Veterans Services’ own site refused retrieval this session, so the cemetery locations, the interment application and the fee schedule were not read. Everything here comes from the Code of Virginia.

Known gapThe discharge condition in the rule above is our own conservative framing. § 2.2-2001 B does not itself state a discharge test; it leaves eligibility to guidelines the Department establishes, which we did not read.

Sources

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