Veterans Benefits

Our veterans have selflessly served our country and at Serenity Funeral Home & Crematory we are committed to always honoring them. Recently, the Veterans Administration (VA) made significant changes to the burial benefits our veterans are entitled to. Below is important information to help you understand more about these critical changes and how they impact our veterans.

What You Need to Know about the 2023 Veterans Benefit Updates

Every year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) office adjusts the amount of aid offered to help keep up with the cost of living. On June 14, 2023, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2023 was signed into law. This bi-partisan bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a cost-of-living adjustment for Veterans benefits in 2024 equal to the COLA applied to Social Security benefits, as determined by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Typically, VA increases average around 2 percent. This year, veterans and their families received an 8.7 percent increase, the highest since 1993. And it was just announced that the 2024 COLA increase will be 3.2%.

Which VA Benefits Increase?

The COLA increases many VA benefits, including disability compensation, clothing allowance for some disabled veterans, survivorship pension compensation, and burial benefits.

Disability Compensation

Under the new COLA guidelines, disability compensation increases by 8.7 percent. In dollar amounts, a disabled veteran with a ten percent VA rating (and no dependents) can expect about $13.28 more each month. A 100 percent disabled veteran with no dependents will receive $300 more monthly.

Survivor Benefits

Spouses and dependent, unmarried children of qualifying veterans receive a COLA of 8.7 percent on survivorship pension benefits.

New Changes to VA Burial Allowance

The non-service-connected burial rate increased by nearly $600 from the 2022 rate to an all-time high of $893. The VA’s burial allowance now matches the amount the government pays for a plot.

Qualifying family members may apply for a burial allowance within two years after a non-service-connected death. There is no time limit to file for service-connected transportation or burial, plot, and interment allowance.

The VA gives qualified veterans or their eligible family members a financial break on burial, funeral, and cremation costs. Some of these benefits include:

• An allowance for burial, funeral, or cremation costs 
  
• An allowance for the internment, plot, or grave marker 
  
• Transportation reimbursement for transporting the remains to a final resting place 
  

Burial benefits are the highest they’ve ever been right now. If you think you might be eligible for benefits you don’t currently receive, consider contacting the VA for assistance in securing the benefits you earned.

For more information about VA Burial Allowance, please visit the VA’s website.

Expanded Eligibility for VA Burial Transportation Money

More military families now qualify for the VA burial transportation allowance. The VA pays to transport a veteran’s remains from the place of death to the location of burial if the following is true:

• Veteran’s date of death is on or after January 5, 2023 
  
• Death occurs within a state 
  
• Place of burial is in a state 
  
• Veteran meets any of the following: 
  
• The veteran’s remains are unclaimed 
• At the time of death, the veteran received VA disability compensation, military retired pay in place of disability compensation, or VA Pension (also called Non-Service-Connected Pension) 

Transportation benefits for death while in VA care are always paid if the veteran dies in a VA Medical facility or another facility approved under VA expense.