Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Congress authorized FEMA to provide financial assistance to individuals who incurred COVID-19-related funeral expenses after January 20, 2020. Today, FEMA has issued its final policy – which includes details such as eligibility and documentation criteria and the application process – for how funds will be distributed to families. Most notably, FEMA shared that the maximum financial assistance will now be $9,000 per funeral. Additionally, FEMA will only award COVID-19 Funeral Assistance for a deceased individual on a single application. If multiple individuals contributed toward funeral expenses, they should register under a single application as applicant and co-applicant. The applicant or co-applicant must have incurred the funeral expenses.
Now is the time for families to decide who the applicant and any co-applicants will be and to gather the documents they need to be reimbursed for expenses.
Specifically, the applicant must provide the following documents:
Eligible funeral expenses include but are not limited to:
If applicants already received reimbursement for certain funeral expenses through government agencies, voluntary agencies, non-profits, burial or funeral insurance, they cannot resubmit those same expenses for reimbursement through this FEMA-administered program. If they received any outside assistance, they must include documentation of this assistance in their application. If they received financial assistance through the deceased’s life insurance policy, they may still apply for reimbursement.
Even if you did not use our funeral home, we will be happy to assist any families with reimbursement.
Please check this website for updates and how to apply for reimbursement: https://www.fema.gov/disasters/coronavirus/economic/funeral-assistance
COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Line Number
Applications begin on April 12, 2021
844-684-6333 | TTY: 800-462-7585
Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. Central Standard Time