Veterans' Affairs funeral grants and burial support

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

Veterans' Affairs New Zealand pays Funeral Expenses, a one-off contribution towards funeral, burial or cremation costs, for a veteran who had qualifying operational service or whose death was service-related. In some other cases it may help. The rate is $3,297.09 for funeral costs as at 1 April 2026. Burial in a Services Cemetery is decided separately by the local authority.

Funeral Expenses is the name Veterans' Affairs uses; the page is often searched as a funeral grant. It is a one-off financial contribution, so it is a fixed payment rather than a refund of the actual bill. Veterans' Affairs lists two routes: a death related to service or Qualifying Service, and a death not related to either, where it "may" help if other conditions are met (Veterans' Affairs: Funeral Expenses, last modified 9 July 2025). Veterans' Affairs ties the payment to qualifying operational service or a service-related death, so being a veteran may not be enough by itself; the conditions are set out below. This page is general information. Check your own position with Veterans' Affairs before you spend, since only it can decide.

Who can get Veterans' Affairs Funeral Expenses

Death related to service or Qualifying Service. You can apply for funeral costs for a veteran if they had qualifying operational service, or their death was service-related.

Death not related to service or Qualifying Service. Veterans' Affairs may help with the funeral costs of a veteran if you are eligible for at least one of these payments:

Surviving Spouse or Partner Pension
Dependant's Pension
Children's Pension
Survivor's Grant
Weekly Compensation for Family

The veteran must also have been getting a specific payment at the time of their death: Veteran's Pension, Weekly Compensation, Weekly Income Compensation, NZ Superannuation, or the Supported Living Payment from Work and Income. Both conditions apply: an eligible family member and a qualifying payment to the veteran.

We do not set out here what counts as Qualifying Service, because the decision belongs to Veterans' Affairs and its eligibility pages; the Veterans' Affairs checker is the place to start (Veterans' Affairs: check your eligibility). If the veteran's service is unclear, ask Veterans' Affairs before assuming either way.

What it pays

Standard costs it can help with are funeral, burial and cremation. Rates, before tax, as of 1 April 2026 (Veterans' Affairs: Funeral Expenses payment rates):

Type of expense	Payment
Funeral costs	$3,297.09
Transport of body within the same locality	$877.26
Transport of body to a different locality	$1,754.53

Transport costs are for taking the body to the place of interment if the death was from Qualifying Service and happened in a public or private hospital; the amount can depend on the total distance travelled. For scale, FDANZ's 2026 report gives an average of $11,700 for a cremation funeral for 50 attendees and $14,300 with a burial, so $3,297.09 is about 28% and 23% of those averages (our arithmetic; FDANZ report). Most families will need to cover the difference.

How it fits with other funeral payments

Veterans' Affairs says that if another government agency, such as ACC, the NZ Defence Force or Work and Income, has made a funeral grant, you can still apply to it, and it will take the other grant into account in deciding what to pay. Work and Income works the other way round: it will not pay its Funeral Grant where an ACC funeral grant, a Veterans' lump sum or a War Funeral Grant is payable, and it cannot top up costs left over after those (Work and Income: Funeral Grant).

	Veterans' Affairs	Work and Income	ACC
Who	Veteran with qualifying operational service or service-related death; some other cases	Partner, parent, child under 18, or a single person over 18 whose funeral you arrange, who normally lived in NZ	Deaths from a covered injury
Amount	$3,297.09 (1 April 2026)	Up to $2,697.43	Up to $8,236.40
Test	Eligibility; other grants taken into account	Means test	Covered injury

The ACC figure is from ACC, where the amount is set by date of death. Our ACC funeral grant and Work and Income Funeral Grant pages explain those two. If none apply, see funeral costs when there is no money in the estate.

How to apply

Complete the Funeral Expenses application form, which you can download from the Veterans' Affairs page.
Send the form and any supporting information to Veterans' Affairs.
Veterans' Affairs contacts you to confirm it has received the application, makes its decision, and tells you in writing.

Veterans' Affairs may ask for more information. It makes decisions on the information you give it and allows it to access, and it may check service records or information held by health professionals and other agencies (Veterans' Affairs: How we make decisions). Keep the funeral director's itemised account and receipts, and the death certificate, with your application; see who to notify after a death. Veterans' Affairs also publishes its Funeral Expenses policy as a PDF if you want to see how the entitlement is administered.

Burial in a Services Cemetery

A Services Cemetery is a separate matter from the payment. To be buried in one, a person must have Operational Service under the Burial and Cremation Act 1964, or be the spouse or partner of someone who has. Eligibility must be approved by the local authority, which manages the cemetery. Some local authorities allow burial of a spouse or partner only after the burial of the member of His Majesty's Forces (Veterans' Affairs: Burial in a Services Cemetery, last modified 3 June 2025). The list of qualifying deployments is on Veterans' Affairs' own page and is updated from time to time, so check it rather than relying on a summary. Note that "Operational Service" for cemetery burial and "qualifying operational service" for payments are described on different pages, so confirm each separately. Council plot and interment fees still apply; see burial costs.

If a claim is declined

If you disagree with a decision, talk to Veterans' Affairs first, because it may be able to fix a mistake without a formal review. If you are still unhappy you can apply for a review of decision within 6 months of being notified, and then appeal the review outcome to the Veterans' Entitlements Appeal Board, again within 6 months. A late application is accepted only for a very good reason (Veterans' Affairs: Review or appeal a decision, last modified 22 February 2023). Community Law centres give free initial legal advice if you want help.

Practical points

Apply early. Veterans' Affairs does not publish a processing time, so we cannot say how long a decision takes.
The payment is a fixed amount and may not cover the bill, so agree with the funeral director how the account will be paid before you know the decision.
Other help exists for those who are not eligible; see what to do if you cannot afford a funeral and the funeral costs hub.

General information, not advice. See the when someone dies hub for the wider checklist.

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Adviser's view

The payment is for veterans with qualifying operational service or a service-related death, and in some other cases where specific payments applied. At $3,297.09 it is higher than the Work and Income maximum but well below FDANZ's average funeral. Services Cemetery burial is a separate decision made by the local authority.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Veterans' Affairs Funeral Grant NZ: Who Qualifies?. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/when-someone-dies/veterans-affairs-funeral-grant-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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