If they were a veteran — a funeral benefit most families miss

If the person who died was a veteran or a war widow or widower, the Department of Veterans' Affairs may help with the cost of the funeral — and because nobody expects it, families routinely pay the whole cost themselves and never find out.

Whether a funeral benefit is payable depends on the person's circumstances and what they were receiving from DVA at the time of death, and the rules differ depending on which veterans' scheme applied to them. Rather than try to work out eligibility yourself in the first raw days, the practical move is simply to tell DVA the person has died, mention you are dealing with the funeral, and ask whether a funeral benefit applies. Where it does, DVA can pay the benefit directly to the funeral director at the executor's or representative's request, which takes the cost off the family's shoulders at the point it lands.

There is usually a time limit — commonly within 12 months of the death — so it is worth asking early rather than discovering the entitlement after the window has closed. For a member of a couple, a separate bereavement payment is often made automatically once DVA is notified of the death; in other cases the estate or a dependant needs to apply on the right form.

CareLoop does not work out what anyone is entitled to or what it is worth — DVA assesses each case, and the rates and rules are theirs and change. The point of this step is only so a veteran's family knows to ask the question, because the benefit is real and the families who miss it are the ones who never knew to look.