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County Burial or Cremation for an Indigent Veteran — a $300 Floor, and It Covers the Family Too
Every county legislative authority must designate an authority responsible, at county expense, for lawfully disposing of the remains of a deceased indigent veteran — or of a deceased family member of an indigent veteran. The sum may not be less than $300, and where relatives or friends take charge of the arrangements the county pays them instead.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
Every county legislative authority must designate an authority responsible, at county expense, for lawfully disposing of the remains of a deceased indigent veteran — or of a deceased family member of an indigent veteran. The sum may not be less than $300, and where relatives or friends take charge of the arrangements the county pays them instead.
What it's worth: Not less than $300 towards disposition of the remains; the ceiling is whatever your county has set
- The statute sets a floor and delegates the ceiling: a sum not to exceed the limit established by the county legislative authority nor less than three hundred dollars. Thirty-nine counties can therefore have thirty-nine different ceilings.
- The trigger is that the deceased left means insufficient to defray funeral expenses. It is a test on the estate, not a rating test and not a wartime test.
- Payment comes from the veterans’ assistance fund authorised by RCW 73.08.080, which is itself funded by a levy of not less than 1.125 cents and not more than 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
- "Remains" carries the meaning given in RCW 68.04.020, which was not read this session.
Who is entitled to it
- The duty attaches to the remains of a deceased indigent veteran.
- A deceased family member of an indigent veteran is named in the section in their own right.
- Your home is in Washington.
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: At the death, before or after the arrangements are made- 1Ask the county which authority it has designated. The statute makes the county legislative authority designate a proper authority, and who that is differs from county to county.
- 2Decide early whether the county arranges the disposition or you do. Both routes are in the statute, but the money moves differently.
- 3If relatives or friends take charge, keep the paperwork. The county auditor — or the chief financial officer in a charter county — pays on presentation of due proof of the death, of the disposition of the remains, and of the expenses incurred.
- 4Ask what ceiling your county legislative authority has established. The $300 is the statutory floor and the answer above it is a local one.
- 5Do not assume this stops at the veteran. A deceased family member of an indigent veteran is inside the same section.
- 6Ask about the federal VA burial allowance and the state veterans cemetery separately. They are different pots with different tests, and a family can be inside more than one.
- Form
- None published statewide — the county designates the responsible authority
- File with
- The authority designated by your county legislative authority, or the county auditor
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThere is no statutory headstone-setting or marker-setting allowance in this chapter. Chapter 73.08 RCW runs to six sections and the burial section provides one sum, for the lawful disposition of remains. If someone quotes Washington a marker-setting allowance, ask which section it comes from.
Worth knowingThe second route is the one families miss. If relatives or friends have already paid an undertaker, the county pays them back on due proof rather than the family having to hand the arrangements over to the county to get anything at all.
Worth knowingThis is the burial duty inside the county veterans’ assistance fund, described here in its own right because it has its own test and its own floor. The wider fund and the assistance programme it pays for are a separate matter.
Known gapNo county-by-county table of established ceilings was found this session, and the statute does not require one to be published centrally. The floor is knowable statewide; the actual figure is a phone call to your county.
Sources
- authority · statuteRCW 73.08.070 — county burial of indigent deceased veterans (the legislative authority for each county must designate a proper authority to be responsible, at the expense of the county, for the lawful disposition of the remains of any deceased indigent veteran or deceased family member of an indigent veteran who died without leaving means sufficient to defray funeral expenses, in a sum not to exceed the limit established by the county legislative authority nor less than three hundred dollars; where relatives or friends take charge, that sum must be paid to them by the county auditor, or by the chief financial officer in a county operating under a charter, on presentation of due proof of the death, disposition of the remains and expenses incurred; expenses must be paid from the veterans’ assistance fund authorised by RCW 73.08.080; "remains" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 68.04.020)
- operating · statuteRCW 73.08.080 — tax levy authorized (the levy is not less than 1.125 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and not greater than 27 cents per $1,000 against taxable property; the fund may be spent on veterans’ assistance programmes under RCW 73.08.010, on the lawful disposition of the remains of a deceased indigent veteran or a deceased family member of an indigent veteran, and on the administrative costs of the fund; a county whose fund balance exceeds the yield of the 1.125-cent minimum may levy a lesser amount)
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.