The following checklist is designed to help you file for your Social Security benefits correctly.
Lump-sum death benefit (We file this form for our families)
A one-time payment of $255.00 is paid in addition to any monthly benefits you may be receiving. The lump-sum payment is paid in the following priority order:
~ A surviving spouse who was living with the worker at the time of death.
~ A surviving spouse who is eligible for benefits.
~ A child eligible for benefits.
Eligibility
The deceased worker must have credit for work covered by Social Security, ranging from 1 ½ years to 10 years depending on his or her age at death.
Who may receive monthly benefits
~ A widow or widower age 60 or older (50 if disabled), or at any age if caring for an entitled child who is under 16 or disabled.
~ A divorced widow or widower age 60 or older (50 if disabled) if the marriage lasted 10 years, or if caring for an entitled child who is under 16 or disabled.
~ Unmarried children up to 18 (19 if they are attending a primary or secondary school full time).
~ Children who were disabled before reaching 22, as long as they remained disabled.
~ Dependent parent or parents 62 or older.
Applying for benefits
You must apply in order to receive benefits. You may apply at any Social Security office or, if you wish, you may apply by telephone. Just dial the toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 and the operator will schedule an appointment for you or arrange for the local Social Security office to take your claim by telephone.
Reimbursement of Burial Expenses
VA will pay a burial allowance up to $1,500 if the veteran’s death is serviced connected. VA also will pay the cost of transporting the deceased of a service-disabled veteran to the national cemetery nearest the home of the deceased that has available gravesites. In such cases, the person who bore the veteran’s burial expenses may claim reimbursement from the VA. The VA will pay a $300 burial and funeral expense allowance for veterans who at time of death, were entitled to receive pension or compensation or would have been entitled to compensation but for receipt of military retirement pay. Eligibility also is established when death occurs in a VA facility or a nursing home with which VA contracted. Additional costs of transportation of the deceased may be reimbursed. There is no time limit for filing reimbursement claims of service-connected deaths. In other deaths, claims must be filed within two years after permanent burial or cremation.
VA will pay a $150 plot allowance when the veteran is not buried in a cemetery that is under U.S. Government jurisdiction if the veteran is discharged from active duty because of disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, if the veteran was in receipt of compensation or pension or would have been in receipt of compensation but for receipt of military pay, or if the veteran died while hospitalized by VA. The plot allowance is not payable solely on wartime service.
Burial Flags
VA provides an American flag to drape the casket of a veteran and to a person entitled to retire military pay. After the funeral service, the flag may be given to the next of kin or a close associate.
Burial in National Cemeteries
Burial benefits in a VA national cemetery includes the gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, and perpetual care. Headstones and markers and their placement are provided at the government’s expense.
Veterans and armed forces members who die on active duty are eligible for burial in one of the VA’s national cemeteries. An eligible veteran must have been discharged or separated from active duty under honorable or general conditions and have completed the required period of service. Persons entitled to retired pay as a result of 20 years creditable service with a reserve component are eligible. A U.S. citizen who served in the armed forces of a government allied with the United States in a war may be eligible.
Spouses and minor children of eligible veterans and of armed forces members also maybe buried in a national cemetery. A surviving spouse of an eligible veteran who remarried a non-veteran, and whose remarriage was terminated by death or divorce, is eligible for burial in a national cemetery.
Gravesites in a national cemetery cannot be reserved. Funeral directors making burial arrangements must apply at the time of death. The National Cemetery System normally does not conduct burials on weekends.
In Oklahoma death certificates may be obtained with an application for search mailed to the Division of Vital Records at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The cost is $10.00 per certified death certificate. Bradley Family Funeral Service has the forms and envelopes to help you obtain certified death certificates
To obtain death certificates from the State Website, click on Oklahoma Death Certificates
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