If a veteran is discharged under honorable conditions and served /drafted twice, and died while in VA state home is he entitled to reimbursement of burial expenses, i.e. funeral cost and burial in private cemetery or the one-time payment of 745.00?

In order to receive the burial allowance, a deceased veteran must meet these criteria:

The veteran must have been discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, and must have:

  •  Died as a result of a service-connected disability (a disability related to service), or
  •  Been getting a VA pension or compensation when they died, or
  •  Been qualified to get a VA pension or compensation, but chose not to, or
  •  Died while getting VA care, either at a VA facility or at a facility contracted by VA, or
  •  Died while traveling to approved VA care, or
  •  Died with a reopened claim for VA compensation or a pension that would have qualified them to get benefits, or
  •  Died on or after October 9, 1996, while a patient at a VA-approved state nursing home.

Although your father-in-law was a resident in a State Veterans Home; State Veterans Homes are facilities that are owned, operated and managed by state governments. VA does not manage State Veterans Homes.  Since he did not die in a VA facility, VA was correct in denying the claim for any burial allowances.