U.S. Code > Title 38 Veterans' Benefits > PART II—GENERAL BENEFITS (§§ 1101—2413) > CHAPTER 23—BURIAL BENEFITS (§§ 2301—2308) > § 2303. Death in Department facility; plot allowance

§ 2303. Death in Department facility; plot allowance

(a)
(1) When a veteran dies in a facility described in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall—
(A) pay the actual cost (not to exceed $300) of the burial and funeral or, within such limits, may make contracts for such services without regard to the laws requiring advertisement for proposals for supplies and services for the Department; and
(B) when such a death occurs in a State, transport the body to the place of burial in the same or any other State.
(2) A facility described in this paragraph is—
(A) a facility of the Department (as defined in section 1701 (3) of this title) to which the deceased was properly admitted for hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care under section 1710 or 1711 (a) of this title; or
(B) an institution at which the deceased veteran was, at the time of death, receiving—
(i) hospital care in accordance with section 1703 of this title;
(ii) nursing home care under section 1720 of this title; or
(iii) nursing home care for which payments are made under section 1741 of this title.
(b) In addition to the benefits provided for under section 2302 of this title and subsection (a) of this section, in the case of a veteran who is eligible for burial in a national cemetery under section 2402 of this title and who is not buried in a national cemetery or other cemetery under the jurisdiction of the United States—
(1) if such veteran is buried (without charge for the cost of a plot or interment) in a cemetery, or a section of a cemetery, that
(A) is used solely for the interment of persons who are
(i) eligible for burial in a national cemetery, and
(ii) members of a reserve component of the Armed Forces not otherwise eligible for such burial or former members of such a reserve component not otherwise eligible for such burial who are discharged or released from service under conditions other than dishonorable, and
(B) is owned by a State or by an agency or political subdivision of a State, the Secretary shall pay to such State, agency, or political subdivision the sum of $300 as a plot or interment allowance for such veteran; and
(2) if such veteran is eligible for a burial allowance under section 2302 of this title or under subsection (a) of this section, or was discharged from the active military, naval, or air service for a disability incurred or aggravated in line of duty, and such veteran is buried in a cemetery, or a section of a cemetery, other than as described in clause (1) of this subsection, the Secretary shall pay a sum not exceeding $300 as a plot or interment allowance to such person as the Secretary prescribes, except that if any part of the plot or interment costs of a burial to which this clause applies has been paid or assumed by a State, an agency or political subdivision of a State, or a former employer of the deceased veteran, no claim for such allowance shall be allowed for more than the difference between the entire amount of the expenses incurred and the amount paid or assumed by any or all of the foregoing entities.