burialstate

Honor Guard Grant Program — New in 2026, and the Money Goes to the Organisation, Not the Family

Va. Code § 2.2-2004.3, enacted in 2026, directs the Department of Veterans Services to make grants to veteran service organisations each fiscal year to offset the expenses of providing honor guard burial details at veterans’ funerals in the Commonwealth — training, transportation, food, equipment and supplies.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Grants to veteran service organisations, subject to the availability of funds — no amount set by statute

The grants go to veteran service organisations, not to families. The section defines a veteran service organisation as an organisation exempt under IRC § 501(c)(19) that serves veterans, a federally chartered veterans corporation, or a veterans affairs agency established by a state.
The offsettable expenses named are those incurred by the organisations and members of the organisations’ honor guards in providing honor guard burial details at the funerals of veterans in the Commonwealth, "including expenses for training, transportation, food, equipment, and supplies".
"Veteran" for this section means a deceased individual eligible to receive a military funeral honors ceremony pursuant to the federal National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, P.L. 106-65.
Grants are made each fiscal year and are subject to the availability of funds. The section sets no dollar amount, so none is published here.
Enacted 2026, c. 65.

Who is entitled to it

You served, which is what this route is written around.
A family arranging a funeral is who feels whether an honor guard turns up.
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

Deadline: Each fiscal year, subject to the availability of funds

1If you are a family: this is not money you claim. Ask the funeral director or the post whether the organisation providing the detail is funded, and expect the detail itself to be free to you.
2Check the federal eligibility first. The section defines the veteran by reference to eligibility for a military funeral honors ceremony under P.L. 106-65 — that is the gate the honors themselves run through.
3If you are a post or organisation: check you fit one of the three definitions — 501(c)(19) exempt and serving veterans, federally chartered veterans corporation, or a state veterans affairs agency.
4Itemise against the statute’s own list when applying: training, transportation, food, equipment and supplies.
5Apply every fiscal year. The section provides for distribution each fiscal year, not for a standing award.
6Do not budget on a figure. The section names no amount and makes the programme subject to the availability of funds.

Form: Grant application by the veteran service organisation
File with: Virginia Department of Veterans Services
Annual: Claimed once a year.

CorrectionThis is not a burial allowance. No money reaches a veteran’s family under this section — it pays the costs of the volunteers who fold the flag and sound Taps, so that the detail can turn up at all.

Known gapNo grant amount, application form, deadline or list of funded organisations appears in the section, and none was read this session. The programme is new enough that the Department may not have published guidelines yet.

Sources

authority · statuteVa. Code § 2.2-2004.3, Honor Guard Grant Program (subsection A defines "veteran" as a deceased individual eligible to receive a military funeral honors ceremony pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, P.L. 106-65, and defines "veteran service organization" as an organisation exempt under § 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code that serves veterans, a federally chartered veterans corporation, or a veterans affairs agency established by a state; subsection B directs the Department to establish the Honor Guard Grant Program to provide grants to veteran service organizations, subject to the availability of funds, each fiscal year, to offset expenses incurred by the organizations and members of the organizations' honor guards in providing honor guard burial details at the funerals of veterans in the Commonwealth, "including expenses for training, transportation, food, equipment, and supplies") [2026, c. 65]

Why only one source type: The section is months old and creates the programme outright; the Department has no published programme page that was reachable this session, and the statutory text is the whole of what exists.

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