(a) Burial benefits. VA provides the following types of burial benefits, which are discussed in §§ 3.1700 through 3.1712:

(1) Burial allowance based on service-connected death;

(2) Burial allowance based on non-service-connected death;

(3) Burial allowance for a veteran who died while hospitalized by VA;

(4) Burial plot or interment allowance; and

(5) Reimbursement for transportation of remains.

(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this subpart:

(1) Burial means all the legal methods of disposing of the remains of a deceased person, including, but not limited to, cremation, burial at sea, and medical school donation.

(2) Covered veterans' cemetery is a designation for an eligible cemetery considered in the determination of transportation benefits under § 3.1709 that meets the following criteria:

(i) A deceased veteran as described in 38 U.S.C. 2308(b) is eligible to be buried within the cemetery;

(ii) The cemetery is either owned by a State or is on trust land owned by, or held in trust for, a Tribal organization; and

(iii) The cemetery is one for which the Secretary has made a grant under 38 U.S.C. 2408.

(c) Cross references. (1) Other benefits and services related to the memorialization or interment of a deceased veteran and certain survivors include the following:

(i) Burial in a national cemetery (see §§ 38.600 and 38.617 through 38.629 of this chapter);

(ii) Presidential memorial certificates (see 38 U.S.C. 112);

(iii) Burial flags (see § 1.10 of this chapter); and

(iv) Headstones or markers (see §§ 38.630 through 38.633 of this chapter).

(2) The provisions of §§ 3.1702 through 3.1711 do not apply to any of the programs listed in paragraph (c)(1) of this section.

[79 FR 32658, June 6, 2014, as amended at 89 FR 78253, Sept. 25, 2024]