KORONER’S KORNER: Veterans‘ death benefits

Part 1 of 3

This guide is to inform the veteran on how to equip family members to efficiently handle actions required after your death with your advanced help.  Most of it applies to any military retiree, and a majority of it was put together by Chapter 24 of the Special Forces Association so, there will be many SF references. It then transitions to focusing on the veteran’s family and the tasks and pitfalls of the paperwork.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN:  And possibly save your family hours of searching, confusion, and reflection

SECTIONS OF THIS GUIDE

• ‘MUST HAVE’ DOCUMENTS, (UP TO 8)

• DOCUMENTATION OF YOUR WISHES – Service type, Clergy, Pall bearers, Speakers, Burial location, Headstone verbiage, Reception, etc.

• GENERIC CHECKLIST OF THE MANY POSSIBLE AGENCIES YOUR FAMILY MUST DEAL WITH – Instructions, Hints, Cautions.  Your BEST site to start with for a multitude of answers regarding Missouri state benefits is the Missouri Veterans site at: https://veteranbenefits.mo.gov/state-benefits/.  At https://dor.mo.gov/military/ there is also a link to the Missouri Department of Revenue site with Military Reference Guide (Complete Guide) (https://dor.mo.gov/forms/Military%20Reference%20Guide.pdf)

• PERTINENT DOCUMENTS: Ownership (Car titles, House, Weapons, etc.), Financial Institutions, Passwords, Computer Apps, Usernames, Wills, Power of Attorney, Estate executor, Life insurance policies, Tax returns, Etc.

• APPENDIX/RESOURCES

SECTION 1:  ‘MUST HAVE’ DOCUMENTS!  Keep hard copies in an accessible file at home. Keep electronic copies in your personalized and secure folder.

• DD-214:  If you separated more than once, include all DD-214’s received to ensure you have complete information.  Review your DD-214 with your family.  You or your spouse can order a free, official copy of your DD-214 at archives.gov. It takes 2-3 days to come back with a link to download it from their site.

• COPY OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.

• DRAFT OBITUARY:  See the ‘fill in the blanks’ obituary in appendix/resources.

• DISABILITY RATING LETTER FROM VA.  Keep this up to date as your rating changes.

• PHOTO SUITABLE FOR OBITUARY AND/OR INTERMENT SERVICE.

• PHOTO OF RIBBON RACK, WITH DESCRIPTION OF EACH RIBBON, INCLUDING CLUSTERS, ETC.

• MOST RECENT YEAR END MYPAY STATEMENT FROM Defense Financial Accounting Service (DFAS). (Include Username and password)

• CURRENT LIST OF USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS (average computer-literate person has 47!)

SECTION 2: DOCUMENT YOUR WISHES  Understand the options/benefits provided for veterans such as cemetery, headstone, on-site service, etc. In developing this manual, it became apparent that in addition to the final preparatory planning for yourself that you can do from the comfort of your home, there is one item that supplants all others, and that is to interview and pre-select a funeral home/director.  The value of the services they offer are immeasurable, particularly when your family is consumed with other tasks involving your death.

Please interview, visit, and learn about funeral services ahead of time.  Your family will benefit tremendously from your effort.  Your funeral director can help immensely and will arrange many details.  Consider interviewing and selecting a director…. Soon.  Most funeral homes in the area are familiar with military funerals and benefits.

COMMUNICATE YOUR PREFERENCES:

• REMAINS:  – Cremation (urn style, burial, scattering, in-ground     columbarium); Direct burial (casket style, choice of cemetery), Donate to science (institution).  The VA does not pay for cremation directly. Any item or service obtained from a funeral home will be at the families’ expense. Cremated remains are buried or inurned in national cemeteries in the same manner and with the same honors as casketed remains.  Some Veterans’ families may be entitled to a burial allowance which may cover some of these expenses (https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/veterans-burial-allowance/).  Burial benefits (https://www.cem.va.gov/burial-memorial-benefits/) available include a gravesite in any of our national cemeteries with available space, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a Government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, at no cost to the family.

2. WAKE:  Location, Speakers, Honorariums, etc.

3. SERVICES:  Church, Graveside, Other; Officiant, Music, Pall Bearers, Honor Guard.

4. CELEBRATION OF LIFE GATHERING:    -Location, Speakers, Honorariums, Food, Drink, Music.

5. HEADSTONE OPTIONS: (See Appendix).

Several cleaning companies provide technical clean-up of veterans’ death scenes.  Some are veteran owned and cleanups are usually covered by insurance.  These companies provide professional technical cleaning solutions for a range of emergencies, including crime scene cleanup, unattended death cleanup, suicide cleanup, and biohazard remediation.

For military veterans and first responders who do not have insurance coverage, these companies offer services free of charge.  When the homeowner has insurance, they deal with the insurance company directly.  For further information about two of the many companies and the services they provide, you can contact A.D. Valor Technical Cleaning (855) 449-4451 or Ben Davis Restoration (BDR) (417) 960-9767; or visit www.valortechnicalcleaning.com or https://bendavisrestoration.net.

Danny Leo Green,

Coroner, Cedar County