{
  "name": "Quality Death: after a death",
  "version": "2026-10-22",
  "checked": "2026-10-22",
  "note": "Help with funeral costs, the federal Funeral Rule, and the first-month paperwork, as each agency publishes it. Every amount names the agency page it came from and the day it was read. Where an agency does not publish a number we could check, the amount is left empty and the page says to ask the agency. The agency decides who qualifies; this file only says what its page says. The page reads this file and keeps the answers on the device; nothing is sent.",
  "questions": [
    { "id": "spouse_or_child", "text": "Is there a husband, wife or partner they were married to, or a child of theirs under 18 (or 18 or 19 and still in school)?" },
    { "id": "veteran", "text": "Did they serve in the U.S. military, and leave without a dishonorable discharge?" },
    { "id": "tribe", "text": "Were they an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe or Alaska Native village?" },
    { "id": "colorado_aid", "text": "Did they live in Colorado, and have Health First Colorado (Medicaid), Colorado Works, Old Age Pension or Aid to the Needy Disabled when they died?" },
    { "id": "no_money", "text": "Is there little or no money in their estate, and no one in the family who can pay?" }
  ],
  "programs": [
    {
      "id": "ssa_lump_sum",
      "name": "Social Security lump-sum death payment",
      "agency": "Social Security Administration",
      "applies_if": ["spouse_or_child"],
      "amounts": [
        { "label": "One-time payment", "usd": 255, "source": "https://www.ssa.gov/personal-record/when-someone-dies/lump-sum-death-payment" }
      ],
      "who": "A spouse might get it. If there is no spouse, some children may: age 17 or younger, 18 or 19 and in school (K to 12) full time, or any age if they became disabled at 21 or younger. A spouse who did not live in the same home may still be eligible if they can get benefits on the record of the person who died.",
      "how": "Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and say you want to apply for a lump-sum death payment.",
      "deadline": "Apply within 2 years of the death.",
      "phone": "+18007721213",
      "source": "https://www.ssa.gov/personal-record/when-someone-dies/lump-sum-death-payment",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "va_burial_allowance",
      "name": "VA burial allowance and plot allowance",
      "agency": "U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs",
      "applies_if": ["veteran"],
      "amounts": [
        { "label": "Death caused by a service-connected disability, on or after September 11, 2001: burial allowance, up to", "usd": 2000, "source": "https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/" },
        { "label": "Death not service-connected, on or after October 1, 2026: burial allowance", "usd": 1032, "source": "https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/" },
        { "label": "Death not service-connected, on or after October 1, 2026: plot allowance", "usd": 1032, "source": "https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/" },
        { "label": "Death not service-connected, October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026: burial allowance", "usd": 1002, "source": "https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/" },
        { "label": "Death not service-connected, October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026: plot allowance", "usd": 1002, "source": "https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/" }
      ],
      "who": "The person paying for the burial and not being paid back by anyone else: a spouse or legal partner, child, parent, the executor, a family member or friend, or a funeral home. The veteran must not have had a dishonorable discharge, and one more thing must be true, for example: the death was service-connected, they died in VA care, or they were getting (or had a claim pending for) a VA pension or compensation. VA does not pay this for a death on active duty.",
      "how": "Apply online at VA.gov or by mail on VA Form 21P-530EZ. A surviving spouse listed on the veteran's VA profile does not need to file: VA pays a set amount automatically when it learns of the death. VA can also pay back the cost of moving the remains to a national cemetery.",
      "deadline": "If the death was not service-connected, file within 2 years of the burial (with exceptions VA lists). There is no time limit for a service-connected death.",
      "source": "https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "va_national_cemetery",
      "name": "Burial in a VA national cemetery",
      "agency": "VA National Cemetery Administration",
      "applies_if": ["veteran"],
      "no_cost": true,
      "amounts": [],
      "amount_words": "No dollar amount: the gravesite, opening and closing the grave, perpetual care, a government headstone or marker, and a burial flag come at no cost to the family. A spouse or dependent may be buried there too.",
      "who": "Eligible veterans, and their spouses and dependents.",
      "how": "The family makes funeral or cremation arrangements with a funeral provider, who can help arrange the national cemetery burial.",
      "source": "https://www.cem.va.gov/burial_benefits/",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "bia_burial",
      "name": "Bureau of Indian Affairs burial assistance",
      "agency": "Bureau of Indian Affairs (or the tribe, where the tribe runs the program)",
      "applies_if": ["tribe"],
      "amounts": [
        { "label": "Most it pays per burial (since June 28, 2024)", "usd": 3500, "source": "https://www.bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/financial-assistance" }
      ],
      "who": "Helps with the burial costs of an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe whose estate does not have enough to pay for the funeral.",
      "how": "Call the tribe's social services office or the local BIA agency office as soon as you can, and ask how and by when to apply.",
      "deadline": "Ask the agency: we could not check the deadline on the agency's own page.",
      "source": "https://www.bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/financial-assistance",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "co_burial_assistance",
      "name": "Colorado Burial Assistance Program",
      "agency": "Your county department of human services (the program is run by the Colorado Department of Human Services)",
      "applies_if": ["colorado_aid"],
      "amounts": [
        { "label": "Most the state pays toward the burial or cremation (the state's page calls this the 2024 maximum; ask the county whether it has changed)", "usd": 1500, "source": "https://cdhs.colorado.gov/benefits-assistance/cash-assistance/adult-financial-programs" },
        { "label": "The whole burial or cremation cannot cost more than", "usd": 2500, "source": "https://cdhs.colorado.gov/benefits-assistance/cash-assistance/adult-financial-programs" }
      ],
      "who": "The person who died must have been receiving public or medical assistance when they died: Colorado Works, Medicaid, or an adult financial program (Old Age Pension, Aid to the Needy Disabled State Only, or the AND Colorado Supplement). Their assets and help from family are counted.",
      "how": "Call or visit the county department of human services where they lived. The county decides who qualifies. The state pays the funeral home or crematory directly, not the family.",
      "deadline": "Ask the county how long you have to apply.",
      "source": "https://cdhs.colorado.gov/benefits-assistance/cash-assistance/adult-financial-programs",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "county_burial",
      "name": "Your county's help with a burial or cremation",
      "agency": "The county human or social services office where they lived",
      "applies_if": ["no_money"],
      "amounts": [],
      "amount_words": "Ask the agency. Some counties help when no one can pay; each county sets its own rules and amounts, and there is no national list we could check.",
      "who": "Each county decides. Ask before you sign anything with a funeral home, and ask whether the county pays the funeral home directly.",
      "how": "Find the county or state social services office, call, and ask: \"Do you help with a burial or cremation when the family cannot pay?\"",
      "source": "https://www.usa.gov/state-social-services",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    },
    {
      "id": "fema_covid_closed",
      "name": "FEMA COVID-19 funeral assistance (closed)",
      "agency": "FEMA",
      "applies_if": [],
      "closed": true,
      "amounts": [],
      "amount_words": "Closed. FEMA is no longer taking new applications; it covered costs from January 20, 2020 to September 30, 2025. Listed so no one spends a day chasing it.",
      "who": "No one can apply now.",
      "how": "Nothing to do.",
      "source": "https://www.fema.gov/disaster/historic/coronavirus/economic/funeral-assistance",
      "checked": "2026-10-22"
    }
  ],
  "funeral_rule": {
    "what": "The Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule lets you choose only the goods and services you want and pay only for those, whether you are arranging a funeral now or ahead of time. It does not cover third-party sellers such as casket or monument dealers, or cemeteries without a funeral home on site.",
    "rights": [
      "You can buy only what you want, one item at a time. You do not have to take a package.",
      "You can ask for prices on the phone. You do not have to give your name, address or phone number first.",
      "When you visit, the funeral home must give you a written, itemized General Price List that is yours to keep.",
      "You can see a written casket price list before you see the caskets, so you can ask about lower-priced ones not on display.",
      "You can see a written price list for outer burial containers (vaults). No state law requires one; some cemeteries do.",
      "After you choose, and before you pay, you get a written statement of every item, its price, and the total.",
      "That statement must explain any cemetery or crematory rule that makes you buy something.",
      "For a cremation you can use a simple container instead of a casket. No state or local law requires a casket for cremation.",
      "You can bring a casket or urn you bought somewhere else. The funeral home cannot refuse it or charge you a fee for it.",
      "No state law requires routine embalming. Refrigeration is usually an acceptable alternative, and direct cremation or immediate burial need no embalming."
    ],
    "source": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/ftc-funeral-rule",
    "checked": "2026-10-22"
  },
  "first_30_days": [
    { "id": "certificates", "when": "First days", "text": "Get certified copies of the death certificate. Social Security, banks, credit cards, life insurance and pensions each want a certified copy; a photocopy may do for smaller things like a subscription. The funeral home can usually order them. The price of each copy: ask the agency (the vital records office of the state where the death happened). In Colorado that is the state or local vital records office.", "source": "https://www.usa.gov/death-certificate", "source_2": "https://cdphe.colorado.gov/order-certificate-now", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "ssa", "when": "First days", "text": "Make sure Social Security knows. The funeral home usually tells them. If not, call 1-800-772-1213 with their name, Social Security number, date of birth and date of death. Social Security tells Medicare. Any Social Security payment for the month they died has to be returned.", "source": "https://www.ssa.gov/personal-record/when-someone-dies", "source_2": "https://www.usa.gov/report-a-death", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "help_with_costs", "when": "First days", "text": "Before you sign with a funeral home, check the help above, and ask the funeral home for its General Price List.", "source": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/ftc-funeral-rule", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "benefits", "when": "First weeks", "text": "Tell the state social services office, to stop benefits such as SNAP (food stamps), TANF, rental assistance or Medicaid.", "source": "https://www.usa.gov/report-a-death", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "va", "when": "First weeks", "text": "If they were a veteran, tell the VA. Ask about burial benefits, survivor benefits and life insurance, and stop compensation or pension payments.", "source": "https://www.usa.gov/report-a-death", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "money", "when": "First weeks", "text": "Tell their bank, credit card companies, the credit bureaus, utilities, and any memberships or subscriptions.", "source": "https://www.usa.gov/report-a-death", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "debts", "when": "First weeks", "text": "Debts are paid from what they left, not from your own money, as a rule. You may owe a debt yourself if you cosigned it, if you were their spouse in a community property state or a state that makes spouses pay some debts like certain health care bills, or if you were in charge of the estate and did not follow state probate law. A debt collector may not say or imply that you have to pay from your own pocket. If you are not sure, talk to a lawyer; legal aid may help if money is tight.", "source": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/debts-and-deceased-relatives", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "dmv", "when": "This month", "text": "Contact the state motor vehicles office to cancel their license or ID, and to move the title of any vehicle they owned.", "source": "https://www.usa.gov/report-a-death", "checked": "2026-10-22" },
    { "id": "taxes", "when": "Later, but write it down", "text": "A final federal income tax return is filed for them, reporting income up to the date of death. Form 1310 claims a refund if one is due.", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/individuals/file-the-final-income-tax-returns-of-a-deceased-person", "checked": "2026-10-22" }
  ]
}