Question:

Read your mail every day and enjoy it. I have asked you questions on several occasions and the answers have been spot on. Thank you for the time you take to answer our questions, here goes:
 

1. Do you know the ballpark price for a veteran to be buried in a national cemetery? Say Montevallo here outside of Birmingham.
    
2. Is the spouse also eligible, I retired from the Air Force after 20+ years

Thanks, John

Jim's Reply:

Thanks for your kind words. I enjoy answering the questions posed to me...I'm glad to hear it helps.
 

If you're eligible, burial and perpetual care costs you nothing out of pocket and your funeral home costs will be very low. I urge vets to go to the closest national cemetery they may want to use and speak with the staff there. National cemetery staff are friendly and open to helping you determine how they may help. See the links I've provided below.
 

I also advise vets to choose a funeral home today and make arrangements with them. Interviewing them now and choosing the director you like is a great step to get out of the way now. Your funeral home director will be in charge of all arrangements and they can be a terrific asset. They have all the connections and numbers to VA since that's how they get paid...that's always a great motivator. The funeral director can be a great friend at a bad time.
 

Your spouse is eligible to be buried along side you in most circumstances. Check eligibility requirements here https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/eligibility/
 

Don't forget about probate...you need your will and so on updated. If you believe that your spouse will be eligible for DIC benefits you should talk about that now and start the paperwork for her to complete. See here: https://www.vawatchdog.org/dic---survivor-benefits.html 
 

Looking at your chosen cemetery it appears they have sites available for burial and cremated remains. https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/alabama.asp  This is a beautiful choice for you.
 

If you're interred in a national cemetery you'll soon be a part of the new VA legacy project here  https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/   
 

There you have it...good luck sir. Promise to do your very best to not use this benefit until you absolutely must!