Family guidance

How to Get Help With Funeral Costs: Assistance Programs, Charities, and Fundraising Options

Cannot afford a funeral? Federal benefits, county programs, charities that help, and how to raise the rest. Every figure dated and sourced, September 2026.

By Shohel Ahmed Updated September 29, 2026 11 min read

Most families have no plan for this. A death arrives without warning, and within about 48 hours someone has to make decisions that cost thousands of dollars while barely able to think. According to the National Funeral Directors Association’s 2023 General Price List Study, the median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial was $8,300, and with cremation $6,280. Neither figure includes a cemetery plot, a grave marker, a burial vault, flowers, or an obituary, so the real total is usually higher.

This guide covers what actually exists, what each option pays, and who qualifies. Figures are current as of September 2026 and each one is dated, because these amounts change and outdated information is worse than none.

What happens if you cannot afford a funeral

Nothing is left undone. Every state has a process for handling a death when no one can pay.

If there is no estate, no insurance, and no family able to cover the cost, you can sign a release with the county coroner or medical examiner’s office stating that you cannot pay. The county then takes responsibility for the disposition of the body. In most places that means a direct cremation or a basic burial, often in a county or common grave, frequently without a headstone and usually without a service.

This is a real option and no one should feel ashamed of using it. But it is worth being clear about the trade. You generally give up the choice of provider, the choice between burial and cremation, the timing, and in many counties the right to a graveside service. In some jurisdictions families are not told where the burial took place until afterwards.

The programs and options below exist to give families a path that keeps more of those choices. Read them before signing a release.

Federal benefits and what they actually pay

Social Security lump-sum death payment: $255

Social Security pays a one-time death benefit of $255. That figure is not a typo and it is not out of date. It was capped at $255 in 1954 and has not been adjusted since 1973, so its real value falls every year.

The eligibility rules are narrower than most people expect:

• A surviving spouse who was living in the same household at the time of death, or a spouse living apart who was receiving certain benefits on the deceased’s record
• If there is no eligible spouse, children who are eligible for benefits on the deceased’s record in the month of death
• Former spouses are not eligible
• Only one beneficiary receives the payment. Multiple eligible children split the $255
• The deceased must have been fully or currently insured under Social Security

Two practical points. The payment cannot be sent directly to a funeral home. And you have to apply for it, by phone or at a Social Security office. It does not arrive automatically.

Source: 20 CFR 404.390 and Congressional Research Service report R43637. Current as of September 2026.

VA burial allowances for veterans

If the deceased was a veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, the family may qualify for VA burial allowances.

VA publishes a full historical table, and the amount depends on the date of death, not the date you apply.

Three things families commonly get wrong here

A surviving spouse usually does not need to apply. VA states that if the spouse is listed on the veteran’s profile, VA automatically pays a set amount toward plot, interment, or transportation when it receives notice of the death.

The filing deadline has exceptions. The general rule for a non-service-connected death is two years after burial. But there is no time limit if the veteran died while under VA care at a VA or VA-contracted facility, no time limit for plot, interment, or transportation claims, and no time limit at all for a service-connected death. A family that assumes they are too late may not be.

More people can claim than most pages suggest. A spouse, a partner from a legal union, a child, a parent, the executor of the estate, a family member or friend who is not the executor, or a representative of a funeral home or cemetery can all file, provided they are paying the costs and are not being reimbursed elsewhere.

Allowances are not paid for someone who died on active duty, while serving as a member of Congress, or while serving a federal prison sentence.

Apply with VA Form 21P-530EZ, online or by mail.

Source: VA.gov Veterans burial allowance and transportation benefits, page last updated 15 December 2025.

FEMA COVID-19 funeral assistance is closed

FEMA’s COVID-19 Funeral Assistance program is no longer accepting new applications. The deadline has passed and covered expenses ended on 30 September 2025. As of 19 February 2026, FEMA had received more than 609,000 applications and approved more than 506,000, awarding approximately $3.26 billion.

If you find a page telling you to call FEMA about funeral assistance, check the date on it.

Source: FEMA.gov COVID-19 Funeral Assistance. Status confirmed September 2026.

County and state assistance

Below the federal layer, most help is local, and this is where families waste the most time looking in the wrong place.

Counties typically run an indigent burial or direct cremation program through the department of social services, the coroner’s office, or a county welfare office. Eligibility is usually strict, tied to the deceased having no estate and the family meeting a low income threshold. Amounts vary enormously, from a few hundred dollars to the full cost of a basic cremation.

Some states run their own burial assistance tied to specific benefit categories. In several states, eligibility depends on whether the deceased was receiving Medicaid, SSI, or state assistance at the time of death.

The deadlines are the trap. Several state and county programs require an application within days of the disposition, and some will not consider a claim once the bill has been paid. Ask about the deadline in your first phone call, before you agree to anything with a funeral home.

How to find yours: call your county department of social services and ask specifically about indigent burial or funeral assistance, or dial 211, which connects to local emergency assistance in most of the United States. Your county coroner’s office can also tell you what exists locally.

A state-by-state comparison of these programs is in preparation and will be added to this page.

Charities that provide direct financial assistance

A small number of nonprofits pay funeral or burial costs directly. Nearly all of them serve a specific group rather than the general public, and nearly all are limited by available donations. Apply early and apply to more than one.

Ways to reduce the cost itself

Before raising a single dollar, reduce the number you need.

Direct cremation is generally the least expensive option handled by a professional provider. It skips embalming, viewing, and a formal ceremony. Families often hold a memorial gathering later, at no cost, once the immediate pressure has passed.

Body donation to a medical school or an accredited donation program frequently covers transportation and cremation at no cost to the family, with cremated remains returned afterwards. Programs have medical eligibility criteria and must be contacted quickly.

Know your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule

This federal law has been in force since 1984 and it exists precisely because families make these decisions under pressure. It gives you the right to:

• Get price information over the telephone without giving your name, address, or phone number
• Receive a written, itemized General Price List to keep, from any provider you ask in person
• See a written casket price list before being shown actual caskets
• See a written outer burial container price list before being shown containers
• Buy only the individual goods and services you want, rather than a package
• Receive a written itemized statement of everything you selected, with the price of each item and the total, before you pay

One point worth knowing: outer burial containers, meaning vaults, are not required by state law anywhere in the United States. Many cemeteries require them as a condition of their own contract, which is a different thing.

Call three providers and ask each for its price list. The spread is often larger than families expect.

Source: consumer.ftc.gov and ftc.gov, Funeral Industry Practices Rule, 16 CFR Part 453. Verified September 2026.

Raising funds from your community

When benefits and assistance do not close the gap, most families turn to the people around them. Where you raise those funds affects what happens on the donor’s tax return.

Donations to personal crowdfunding campaigns are not tax-deductible. They are treated as personal gifts under IRS rules. That does not make them any less generous, and for many families a personal campaign is exactly the right choice. We cover the reasoning in detail in Are Donations Made to Personal GoFundMe Campaigns Tax-Deductible?.

GiveTaxFree works differently:

• Campaigns are reviewed and approved under World Christian Charity Fund’s charitable program
• Donations are made to GiveTaxFree.org in support of approved campaigns
• Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law
• Donors receive a written charitable contribution acknowledgment
• Donors should consult their CPA or tax adviser regarding their individual deduction

Comparing the two

For a funeral, this matters more than it might elsewhere. Donations tend to arrive in a compressed window from a wide circle of friends, colleagues, and members of a congregation, many of whom itemize deductions. Whether they can claim a deduction is a real difference to them, and it costs the family nothing to choose the option that gives them one.

Tax questions families ask

Are funeral expenses tax-deductible on a personal return?

Funeral and burial expenses are not deductible on an individual income tax return. This is one of the most common misunderstandings families encounter. Consult your CPA or tax adviser about your own circumstances.

What documentation does a donor need to claim a deduction?

The IRS generally requires a donor claiming a deduction of $250 or more to obtain and keep a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charitable organization. GiveTaxFree provides a written charitable contribution acknowledgment for donations made in support of approved campaigns. Donors should consult their CPA or tax adviser regarding their individual deduction.

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