National Cemetery Scheduling Office: How to Arrange a VA Cemetery Burial

What the National Cemetery Scheduling Office Does

The National Cemetery Scheduling Office is the point of contact for scheduling burial at VA national cemeteries that are open for interments. You reach them at 1-800-535-1117, available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Arlington National Cemetery is managed separately; contact Arlington directly about burial there.

When you call, a scheduling coordinator walks you through eligibility verification, cemetery selection, and committal service planning. They can also verify the veteran's service records electronically through the National Archives — which means you do not need a physical DD Form 214 in hand to start the process.

Who Is Eligible for National Cemetery Burial

Eligibility extends beyond the veteran. The following individuals qualify for burial at no cost in a VA national cemetery:

• Veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable who completed their required period of active service
• Service members who died on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training
• Spouses and surviving spouses of eligible veterans (including surviving spouses who remarried after the veteran's death)
• Minor children of eligible veterans (unmarried, under 21, or under 23 if attending school full-time)
• Unmarried adult children who became permanently physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support before age 21, or before age 23 if pursuing full-time education

The important detail many families miss: a spouse or dependent child can be buried in a national cemetery even if the veteran is already interred elsewhere. The right to burial is individual, not conditional on being buried together.

What the VA Provides at No Cost

A national cemetery burial eliminates several of the largest funeral expenses. The VA covers:

• Gravesite in a national cemetery
• Opening and closing of the grave (or columbarium niche)
• Perpetual care of the gravesite
• Government headstone or marker (flat granite, upright marble, bronze niche, or flat bronze)
• Presidential Memorial Certificate (request with VA Form 40-0247)
• Burial flag (interment flag provided at the committal service)

Cremated remains receive identical benefits. The veteran or eligible family member can be interred in a columbarium niche, buried in-ground in a cremation section, or placed alongside a casketed burial in the same gravesite.

How to Schedule the Burial

The process moves faster than most families expect. Here is the typical sequence:

Day of death or the next morning: The funeral home or next of kin calls the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-800-535-1117. Have these details ready:

• Veteran's full legal name and Social Security number
• Branch of service and approximate dates of service
• Discharge status (honorable, general, etc.)
• Date and cause of death
• Preferred cemetery location
• Whether burial will be casketed or cremated remains
• Whether the family wants military funeral honors

After eligibility is verified: The scheduling coordinator helps assign a date and time for the committal service. National cemeteries near major metro areas may have limited availability for casketed burials but typically have open columbarium niches.

Day of service: The cemetery provides a committal shelter, setup, and grounds crew. If the family requested military funeral honors, the local honor guard (arranged through the DoD) provides at minimum a two-person detail for flag folding and presentation, with Taps played by bugler or recording.

State Veterans Cemeteries

In addition to more than 155 national cemeteries, states, territories, and tribes operate VA grant-funded veterans cemeteries. These are funded through VA State Cemetery Grants but managed locally. Eligibility rules and available services vary — some offer identical benefits to national cemeteries, while others charge modest fees for opening and closing.

Contact your state's Department of Veterans Affairs for the nearest state veterans cemetery. Many are located in areas not served by a national cemetery.

Pre-Need Eligibility Determination

If you want to plan ahead before a death occurs, the VA offers a Pre-Need Burial Eligibility Determination. Submit VA Form 40-10007 to confirm eligibility in advance. The determination documents eligibility but does not reserve a gravesite; burial locations are assigned when needed.

The Veteran's Death Benefits & Survivor Claims toolkit includes a Burial Benefits Tracker that coordinates cemetery scheduling with the separate burial allowance application — two processes that run in parallel but require different forms and different VA offices.