N.Y. VET Law § 8 — New York Code / Act VET / Article 1 / Section 8
New York state supplemental burial allowance for members of the uniformed services of the United States killed in combat or duty subject ...
Status: in_force

§ 8. New York state supplemental burial allowance for members of the\nuniformed services of the United States killed in combat or duty subject\nto hostile fire or imminent danger, as defined in 37 USC § 310. 1. As\nused in this section, "parent" means a father, a mother, a father\nthrough adoption, a mother through adoption, or an individual who, for a\nperiod of not less than one year, at any time before the decedent's\nentry into active military service stood in the relationship of a parent\nto a decedent who died in combat or duty subject to hostile fire or\nimminent danger, as defined in 37 USC § 310, or who died from a wound\nincurred in combat or while serving on duty subject to hostile fire or\nimminent danger, as defined in 37 USC § 310 or, if two persons stood in\nthe relationship of a parent for one year or more, the person who bore\nthe expenses of the funeral of the decedent.\n  2. As used in this section, (a) "wound" means a physical injury to a\nservicemember on active duty caused by (i) a bullet, shrapnel, or other\nprojectile; (ii) a mine or trap; (iii) an explosion; (iv) a vehicle or\naircraft accident not caused by the servicemember's willful misconduct;\nor (v) any other action caused or induced by the enemy directly\nresulting in physical harm to the servicemember.\n  (b) "burial receptacle" means (i) a casket, which shall mean a rigid\ncontainer that is designed for the encasement of human remains and\ncustomarily ornamented and lined with fabric, (ii) an urn, which shall\nmean a container of wood, metal, pottery, or other material designed for\nthe storage of cremated human remains, and/or (iii) an outer burial\nreceptacle, which shall mean a graveliner, burial vault, or other\nsimilar type of container for the placement of a casket or urn.\n  3. There is hereby established within the department a New York state\nsupplemental burial allowance for any member of the uniformed services\nof the United States who: (a) died in combat or duty subject to hostile\nfire or imminent danger, as defined in 37 USC § 310 or died from a wound\nincurred in combat or while serving on duty subject to hostile fire or\nimminent danger, as defined in 37 USC § 310, other than the exceptions\nnoted in paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of subdivision four of this\nsection, and (b) who was (i) a resident of New York state at the time of\nhis or her death or (ii) a nonresident of New York state at the time of\nhis or her death and a member of the New York Army National Guard or New\nYork Air National Guard at the time he or she entered title 10, United\nStates Code, federal active duty status during which period of service\nhe or she died.\n  4. (a) The purpose of the program is to administer and monitor a\nsupplemental allowance program to aid families of military personnel who\ndied in combat or duty subject to hostile fire or imminent danger, as\ndefined in 37 USC § 310, or died from a wound incurred in combat or duty\nsubject to hostile fire or imminent danger, as defined in 37 USC § 310,\nwith respect to expenses incurred in connection with the decedent's\nfuneral and the burial, burial receptacle, cremation, or other interment\nof the decedent's remains.\n  (b) Eligible recipients under this program shall be those who bore the\ncost of the decedent's funeral and burial, burial receptacle, cremation,\nor other interment, in the following order of priority: (i) a surviving\nspouse or domestic partner of the decedent; (ii) adult children of the\ndecedent, to include step-children and adopted children; (iii) parents\nor grandparents of the decedent, and parents-in-law or\ngrandparents-in-law of the decedent; (iv) siblings of the decedent, to\ninclude siblings adopted by the decedent's immediate family and siblings\nwith whom the decedent shares only one parent in common, and\nsiblings-in-law of the decedent; (v) aunts, uncles, and first cousins of\nthe decedent; and (vi) any other relative. Any applicant convicted of\nmaking any false statement in the application for the reimbursement\nshall be subject to the penalties prescribed in the penal law.\n  (c) Such burial allowance is a partial reimbursement of an eligible\ndecedent's funeral and burial, burial receptacle, cremation or other\ninterment costs. The reimbursement is generally applicable to two\ncomponents: (i) funeral expenses, and (ii) expenses arising from the\nburial, burial receptacle, cremation, or other interment of the\ndecedent's remains. Any allowance granted by the government of the\nUnited States, pursuant to 38 U.S.C. §§2301, 2302, 2303, 2306, 2307 and\n2308 or 10 U.S.C. § 1482, or by the decedent's state of residence in the\ncase of an allowance eligible pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph\n(b) of subdivision three of this section, shall be first applied toward\nfuneral and burial, burial receptacle, cremation or other interment\ncosts. The state may award an allowance of up to six thousand dollars to\ncover any remaining expenses.\n  (d) The state shall not award any funds from this allowance to\nreimburse any costs for the headstone, grave marker, or medallion of the\ndecedent.\n  (e) The state shall not grant supplemental burial allowance payments\nfor the funeral or the burial, burial receptacle, cremation, or other\ninterment of remains of any decedent whose relations received any\nreimbursement from this allowance for any previous funeral or burial,\nburial receptacle, cremation, or other interment of remains for this\nsame decedent.\n  (f) The state shall not grant supplemental burial allowance payments\nfor any person filing a completed application for such allowance with\nthe state later than: (i) two years after the applicant received final\nwritten notice from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs\nregarding an application for reimbursement of funeral or burial, burial\nreceptacle, cremation or other interment expenses pursuant to 38 U.S.C.\n§§2301, 2302, 2303, 2306, 2307, or 2308, or 10 U.S.C. § 1482, or any\ncombination thereof; or (ii) two years after the expiration date of the\nfiling deadline to apply for reimbursement of funeral, burial, burial\nreceptacle, cremation or other interment expenses from the United States\nDepartment of Veterans Affairs, as defined in 38 U.S.C. § 2304, if the\napplicant never applied for reimbursement of funeral, burial, burial\nreceptacle, cremation or interment expenses from the United States\nDepartment of Veterans Affairs. Any applications received subsequent to\nthese prescribed periods shall be denied as time-barred.\n  (g) Applicants shall furnish evidence of the decedent's military\nservice and relevant after action reports or other documents explaining\nwhy the application meets eligibility requirements for each case in the\nmanner and form prescribed by the state commissioner or his or her\ndesignee.  Upon being satisfied that the facts in the application are\ntrue, the state commissioner or his or her designee shall certify to the\nstate comptroller the name and address of such recipient. The decision\nof the state commissioner or his or her designee on all matters\nregarding any payment from this allowance shall be final.\n  (h) The state commissioner shall submit a report to the governor, the\nchairperson of the senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the\nassembly ways and means committee not later than January fifteenth of\neach year in which this section is in effect. Such report shall include,\nbut not be limited to, regulations promulgated pursuant to this section,\nallowances paid, and an account of the monies spent and the relationship\nof the distributees to the decedent.\n