FAMILYVA program
State Cemetery Grants Program
VA grants to states, territories, and federally recognized tribal governments to establish, expand, or improve veterans' cemeteries, broadening burial options for veterans in underserved areas.
Step-by-step guide
What a state or tribal veterans cemetery looks for
- A veteran or family member the cemetery may buryA grant-funded cemetery is run only for veterans, their spouses and surviving spouses, minor children, unmarried adult children who were disabled and could not support themselves, and some parents of service members who died.
- The cemetery's own rulesWho may be buried is similar to a national cemetery, but a state or tribal cemetery may add rules such as residency in the state. Each cemetery answers its own questions.
Source: 38 CFR 39.10(a) (opens in new tab); National Cemetery Administration: list of VA grant-funded cemeteries (opens in new tab)
What do you want to know?
- Burial in a state or tribal veterans cemetery
Many states, territories, and tribes run veterans cemeteries built or improved with VA grant money. They are an option near home where no national cemetery has space. The state, territory, or tribe runs the cemetery and sets its own burial process.
Source: National Cemetery Administration: list of VA grant-funded cemeteries (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 39.10(a) (opens in new tab); National Cemetery Administration: Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (opens in new tab)
- How the grant program shapes what the cemetery offers
VA grants pay states, territories, and tribal governments to build, expand, improve, run, or maintain veterans cemeteries to VA standards. The grant keeps the cemetery for veterans and their families, and VA headstones are ordered through it.
- A cemetery for veterans and their familiesA cemetery that takes a grant must stay a veterans cemetery. If it stops, the government must repay VA. It may not bury people convicted of certain capital crimes or of certain sex offenses carrying a life sentence.
- A government headstone the cemetery ordersFor a burial in a state or tribal veterans cemetery, the cemetery orders the VA headstone or marker through VA's system. Spouses and dependent children buried there can get one too.
Source: National Cemetery Administration: Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 39.1 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 39.10(a) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 39.10(b) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 39.10(c) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 38.630(a) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 38.630(b)(1) (opens in new tab); National Cemetery Administration: burial and memorial benefits (opens in new tab)
What to gather, and what it shows VA
| Document | What it shows | How VA gets it | Have it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| DD214 or other discharge papers The veteran's certificate of release or discharge. | Service that meets the cemetery's veteran rules, and the details for the headstone | Keep a copy ready for the cemetery. If the family does not have it, request it through VA.gov. | Yes |
| Marriage or birth certificate The record that connects a spouse or child to the veteran. | That a spouse or child is family the cemetery may bury | Keep a copy ready if a spouse or child is to be buried in the cemetery. | Yes |
| Proof of residence, if the cemetery asks A record showing where the veteran lived, for a cemetery with a residency rule. | That the cemetery's own residency rule is met | Ask the cemetery which record it takes, then keep a copy ready. | Yes |
Burial requests go to the state, territory, or tribal cemetery itself. BeneVets does not ask for these papers.
Steps, in order
- Get free help from a VSO
Free help: an accredited VSO can file this with you. Find one near you in the BeneVets VSO directory at Find an accredited VSO near you.
Source: VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab)
- Find a grant-funded cemetery
Look up state, territory, and tribal veterans cemeteries on the VA list of grant-funded cemeteries.
Source: National Cemetery Administration: list of VA grant-funded cemeteries (opens in new tab)
- Contact the cemetery about its rules
Call or write the cemetery to ask who it may bury, whether it has a residency rule, and what papers it needs. VA cannot answer these questions for it.
Source: National Cemetery Administration: list of VA grant-funded cemeteries (opens in new tab)
- Gather the papers
Get copies of the veteran's DD214 and, for a spouse or child, the marriage or birth certificate.
Source: 38 CFR 39.10(a) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: request your military service records (opens in new tab)
- Give the inscription to the cemetery
The cemetery orders the government headstone or marker as part of arranging the burial, so no separate VA headstone form is needed.
Source: 38 CFR 38.630(b)(1) (opens in new tab); National Cemetery Administration: burial and memorial benefits (opens in new tab)
Good to know
VA gives these grants only to states, territories, and federally recognized tribal governments. No money from this program goes to a veteran or family. What a family gets is a burial option near home.
Source: National Cemetery Administration: Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 39.1 (opens in new tab)
The state, territory, or tribe operates and maintains the cemetery. VA cannot answer questions about a state or tribal veterans cemetery, so contact the cemetery listed on the VA grant-funded cemetery list.
Source: National Cemetery Administration: list of VA grant-funded cemeteries (opens in new tab); National Cemetery Administration: Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (opens in new tab)
VA runs national cemeteries under its own burial rules. A family can compare a nearby national cemetery with a state or tribal one.
Source: VA.gov: burial in a VA national cemetery (opens in new tab); National Cemetery Administration: burial and memorial benefits (opens in new tab)
BeneVets is informational and is not an accredited representative. Free help: an accredited VSO can work through VA benefits with you at no cost. Find an accredited VSO near you
Sources checked October 7, 2026: 38 CFR 39.1 (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 39.10(a) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 39.10(b) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 39.10(c) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 38.630(a) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 38.630(b)(1) (opens in new tab), National Cemetery Administration: Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (opens in new tab), National Cemetery Administration: list of VA grant-funded cemeteries (opens in new tab), VA.gov: burial in a VA national cemetery (opens in new tab), National Cemetery Administration: burial and memorial benefits (opens in new tab), VA.gov: request your military service records (opens in new tab), VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab)