IMA POLICY MANUAL
PART IX: SPECIAL LOCAL PROGRAMS
CHAPTER 1: BURIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Burial Assistance program is designed to provide assistance in paying for burial costs for individuals who die with very few resources and who do not have families who can afford burial costs. The Burial Assistance program has been allocated limited funding and, therefore, will operate on a first-come, first-served basis until available funding has been exhausted.
All applications for Burial Assistance are processed by the Burial Unit at the 645 H Street Service Center.
| Rights of Applicants and Recipients |
D.C. Act 13-180; 29 DCMR 2600-269
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Family members who apply for burial assistance on behalf of a deceased person will receive $800 toward the cost of burial or $450 toward the cost of cremation services. This assistance can be used to help pay for a cemetery plot and/or other burial-related costs. This program will only provide assistance in paying for burial-related costs if the burial is handled through one of the funeral homes under contract with the District to participate in this program and the funeral takes place within the Washington Metropolitan area. All payments are made directly to the funeral home. In addition, the total cost of the funeral, including the family contributions, cannot exceed $2,000 (not including the cost of opening and closing the grave), except in the case of a deceased person who requires an oversized casket. The total cost of the burial for a deceased person who requires an oversized casket shall not exceed $3,000.
The deceased person must have been a District resident immediately prior to his or her death. In addition, his/her countable resources, when combined with those of any financially responsible relative, must be less than $800.
District residents, who had a prepaid funeral plan, or for whom a pre-paid funeral plan is held, are not eligible for assistance.
For the purposes of this program, a resident of the District of Columbia is a person who was living voluntarily and not for a temporary purpose within the District. It includes the following:
- someone who maintained a home in the District as his/her principal residence;
- a District of Columbia resident residing in an institution outside the District, including, but not limited to, a hospital or nursing facility, and he or she retains a home or his or her spouse or parent maintains residence in the District;
- a person, including prisoners, that a District agency placed in a institution located in another state;
- a migrant worker who lived in the District; or
- someone who was homeless, physically present in the District, and not a resident of another state.
- a migrant worker who lived in the District.
