How to Pay for a Funeral With No Money: Assistance Programs

To pay for a funeral with no money, start by requesting burial assistance—help with funeral or burial costs—from your local social services office. Then check Social Security, veterans benefits, and assistance tied to a crime or a child's death to identify support that fits your circumstances. Before signing a funeral contract, ask whether assistance can be approved before you pay and what spending limits apply. New York City, for example, allows families to seek preapproval for a planned funeral instead of paying the bill first.

Table of Contents

• Start with local burial assistance
• Check the Social Security death payment
• Separate veterans cemetery benefits from cash allowances
• Seek help for a crime-related death or a child's death
• Reduce the amount you need to cover

Start with local burial assistance

Ask your local social services office whether it has a burial assistance program. Explain that you cannot pay upfront, and ask about financial eligibility, covered expenses, and approval before making arrangements. The New York City Human Resources Administration's burial assistance program can pay up to $1,700 for low-income residents who died without resources to pay. Its funeral-bill limit is $3,400. When assessing a bill above that amount, the program excludes burial-plot, grave-opening, or cremation charges.

A legally responsible spouse or parent applying in New York City must also meet financial eligibility requirements. The practical distinction matters: the maximum benefit is the contribution available, while the bill limit restricts the funeral expense that qualifies. Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services offers assistance when estate resources—the deceased person's assets—and required contributions are insufficient. Listed maximum payments include $875 for burial with a memorial service or $390 for cremation without one. The remains must be in Michigan; transportation back to the state is excluded.

Check the Social Security death payment

The Social Security Administration provides a one-time $255 death payment to an eligible surviving spouse. If there is no spouse, certain eligible children may qualify. Treat this payment as a contribution toward expenses when planning your budget.

Eligibility depends on the surviving family member; it is not a payment available to everyone who arranges a funeral. Applications must be made within two years of the death. Call Social Security at 800-772-1213 to ask about eligibility and applying.

Separate veterans cemetery benefits from cash allowances

For a veteran's funeral, check both burial allowances and national cemetery benefits. They address different expenses, so ask about each before agreeing to cemetery and funeral charges. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs lists a $1,002 burial allowance and a $1,002 plot allowance for qualifying non-service-connected deaths on or after October 1, 2025. Its burial allowance requirements include that the applicant paying funeral costs will not receive reimbursement from another organization.

Do not assume you can combine reimbursements for the same expenses. Separately, VA provides eligible veterans, service members, reservists, and qualifying family members with burial benefits in a national cemetery with available space. These include a gravesite, grave opening and closing, a government burial liner, a headstone or marker, and perpetual gravesite care. VA provides those cemetery benefits at no cost to families. When comparing arrangements, ask the funeral provider to identify the charges remaining after those benefits are applied.

Seek help for a crime-related death or a child's death

If the death resulted from a crime, contact the crime-victim compensation program where the crime occurred. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime, state programs can reimburse funeral and burial expenses, but eligibility varies. Because this assistance involves reimbursement, ask how payment works before committing to a bill you cannot cover.

Describe any other assistance you are seeking so the program can explain how it affects your application. For families facing a child's death, Children's Burial Assistance provides donated burial plots, urns, and guidance through partners across the United States. Its online assistance form states that families will receive a response within 24–48 hours to review available resources. That response timeframe is for reviewing resources, rather than a promise of funding.

Reduce the amount you need to cover

Compare funeral prices while assistance applications are being considered. The Federal Trade Commission explains that the Funeral Rule lets you obtain prices by telephone, receive an itemized price list in person, and select individual goods and services instead of a package. Ask providers to price the same arrangements so you can compare the totals.

For example, request a direct cremation quote and ask which charges are included before adding a separate memorial gathering to your budget. Under the FTC rule, providers offering direct cremation must make alternative containers available, allowing families to avoid buying a casket. Ask for the alternative-container option when requesting your quote.

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