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Burial assistance for low income families
If someone has died and there is no money, you have more options than a funeral home will usually tell you about. Several of them cost nothing. Here is what genuinely exists, who qualifies, and what to do first.
Before you sign anything
Do not sign a funeral home contract until you have made the calls below. Once you sign, the bill is yours, and county assistance generally cannot be applied to a funeral you have already agreed to pay for. A funeral home is required by federal law to give you an itemised price list and to let you decline anything you do not want, and there is no legal requirement to embalm.
The seven things that actually exist
Ranked roughly by how much they are worth. Most families qualify for more than one, and they can often be combined.
County or state indigent burial
Anyone with no estate and no family able to pay
Almost every US county has a statutory duty to dispose of a body when nobody can pay. It is usually called indigent burial, county burial or a welfare funeral, and it is administered by the county coroner, medical examiner or social services department. What you get varies enormously: some counties provide a simple burial in a designated section of a public cemetery, many now provide cremation only, and a few provide nothing beyond disposition.
What to do. Call the county coroner or medical examiner where the death occurred, before signing anything with a funeral home. Once you sign a contract you have accepted the bill, and the county programme generally cannot be applied retroactively.
The Social Security lump sum death payment
A surviving spouse living with the deceased, or a dependent child
A one time payment of $255. It has not increased since 1954, when it was set as three times the maximum monthly benefit. It will not pay for a funeral and it was never designed to, but it is money the family is entitled to and a great many people never claim it.
What to do. Apply within two years of the death by calling Social Security. The funeral home usually reports the death, but reporting the death is not the same as claiming the payment.
Veterans burial benefits
Any veteran with a discharge other than dishonourable, and often their spouse
Burial in a national cemetery costs the family nothing, including the plot, opening and closing, a government headstone and perpetual care. There is also a burial allowance, larger where the death was service connected, and military funeral honours are a legal entitlement on request. This is the single most valuable programme on this page and it is routinely missed.
What to do. The funeral director can request it, but do not rely on that. Contact the VA directly and have the discharge paperwork, the DD214, to hand.
Crime victim compensation
Families where the death was a homicide or certain other crimes
Every state runs a crime victim compensation fund, and funeral expenses are a covered cost in all of them. Awards commonly run into several thousand dollars, far more than any other programme here. Funding comes from offender fines rather than taxes, which is why it is generous relative to everything else.
What to do. Apply through the state attorney general or the state victim services office. There are filing deadlines, often within a year, and a police report is normally required.
FEMA funeral assistance
Families where the death is attributable to a declared disaster
FEMA reimburses funeral costs for deaths caused by a federally declared disaster. Programmes open and close with the declarations, so what exists depends entirely on when and where the death occurred.
What to do. Check the current FEMA programme list rather than assuming, since these open and close.
Whole body donation
Anyone who qualifies medically and is comfortable with it
Donating the body to a medical school or an accredited donation programme usually removes the cost entirely. The programme collects the body, covers cremation afterwards and returns the ashes to the family, typically within a few weeks to a couple of years. This is the only option on this page that eliminates the $2,202 to $15,395 bill rather than reducing it.
What to do. Contact a medical school directly or an accredited non transplant tissue bank. Acceptance is not guaranteed and can be refused on the day for medical reasons, so never plan around it without a backup.
Religious congregations and burial societies
Families with a connection to a congregation, however loose
Many congregations hold a benevolence or burial fund, and several traditions maintain burial societies whose entire purpose is to bury members at little or no cost. These are almost never advertised and are frequently available to lapsed or occasional members.
What to do. Ask directly. The answer is often yes and nobody thinks to ask.
If none of those apply, direct cremation is the floor
A direct cremation with no service, no viewing and no embalming averages $2,202 nationally, against $8,300 for a conventional funeral before the cemetery is counted. It is the least expensive lawful disposition available in every state, and a family can hold a memorial afterwards at no cost, at home or at a church, whenever they are ready.
Prices vary by several hundred dollars between funeral homes in the same city for exactly the same service. Ring three and ask for the direct cremation price specifically. They are required to quote it over the phone.
How direct cremation works · What each line on a funeral bill costs
A word about crowdfunding
It works, and it is now how a large share of unexpected funerals get paid for. Two things worth knowing: platforms take a cut, and money raised may count as income for means tested benefits in some circumstances. Post the itemised funeral home quote rather than a round number, because people give more readily to a specific bill than to an estimate.
Common questions
What happens if a family genuinely cannot pay for a funeral?
The county takes responsibility for disposition. Every US county has a statutory duty here, usually through the coroner or medical examiner. Increasingly that means cremation rather than burial. Nobody is left unburied because a family has no money.
Is there any government help with funeral costs?
There is no single national funeral benefit. There is a $255 Social Security payment for an eligible surviving spouse or dependent child, county indigent programmes, veterans benefits which are substantial, state crime victim funds where a crime caused the death, and FEMA assistance after a declared disaster.
Can I get free burial insurance?
No. Any advert offering free burial insurance is selling something else, usually a lead form or a very small policy with a two year waiting period. Insurance also cannot help with a death that has already happened, which is what most people searching this page need.
How much does the cheapest funeral cost?
A direct cremation, averaging $2,202, is the least expensive option in every state. Whole body donation can remove the cost entirely if the donor qualifies and the programme accepts.