Does Social Security help pay for a funeral?

Social Security pays a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 to a spouse, or if there is no spouse, to some children. Apply within 2 years of the death by calling 1-800-772-1213. Source: ssa.gov, read 2026-10-22.

How much does the VA pay toward a veteran's burial?

For a death on or after October 1, 2026 that was not service-connected, VA lists a $1,032 burial allowance and $1,032 for a plot; for a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, up to $2,000. Eligibility rules apply. Source: va.gov, read 2026-10-22.

Do I have to buy a funeral package?

No. Under the FTC Funeral Rule you can buy only the goods and services you want, get prices by phone without giving your name, and get a written itemized General Price List to keep. Source: consumer.ftc.gov.

En español: los primeros pasos

After a death

Someone has died. Here is the help with the costs, and the paperwork, one step at a time.

For a family that has to pay for a funeral and does not know how. Every amount below comes from the agency’s own page, with the link and the day we read it. Where an agency does not publish a number, we say so: ask the agency. Your answers stay on this phone. No account, nothing to buy.

Before anything else

If the death just happened at home: who to call first, hospice or 911.

Nothing has to be signed tonight. You can ask a funeral home for prices by phone, without giving your name, and buy only what you choose.

Look at the help below before you sign with a funeral home. Some programs pay the funeral home directly, and some need to hear from you first.

Little money? Three questions Help with the costs Your rights at the funeral home The first month’s paperwork

Help with funeral and burial costs

Five questions, tap to answer. “Not sure” counts as maybe, so nothing is left out on a guess.

Loading the questions…

Your answers are not saved and not sent anywhere. Closing the page forgets them.

Everything we checked

Each one with its amount, who it is for, how to ask, and where it comes from.

Your rights at the funeral home

The Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule, in plain words. It applies to funeral homes across the country.

The first month’s paperwork

Not all at once. Tick what is done; the ticks stay on this phone only.

And you

The paperwork can wait a day. Eat something. Ask one person to sit with you. If the grief becomes too heavy to carry, call or text 988, any hour.

Grief, and where to find a person

What is usually true, when to ask for more help, and a checklist by time.

Help paying for a funeral

Three tap questions, then each agency’s own words: Social Security, VA, Colorado, crime victim help, FEMA, body donation.

What happens to the body

Burial, cremation, green burial, composting and donation, explained.

Where this comes from

Social Security lump-sum death payment: Social Security, Lump-sum death payment. Reporting a death: Social Security, What to do when someone dies.
Veterans: VA, Veterans burial allowance and transportation benefits; VA National Cemetery Administration, Burial and Memorial Benefits.
Tribal members: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Financial Assistance and Social Services.
Colorado: Colorado Department of Human Services, Adult Financial Programs (Burial Assistance Program); death certificates: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Order certificate now.
Counties and state offices: USAGov, State social services. FEMA’s COVID-19 funeral assistance has closed: FEMA.
Funeral Rule: Federal Trade Commission, The FTC Funeral Rule. Debts: FTC, Debts and Deceased Relatives.
Paperwork: USAGov, death certificates; USAGov, Agencies to notify when someone dies; IRS, final income tax returns of a deceased person.

Every agency page was read on 2026-10-22. Amounts change, often each October for VA. The agency decides who qualifies; this page only says what the agency’s page says. The machine-readable version, with every amount and its source, is after-a-death.json.

This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. Quality Death sells no funeral goods or services and is not paid by any agency or provider named here.