When a veteran dies, the last thing a grieving family should have to do is track down which government office handles the benefits they've earned. In Pennsylvania, a new law is closing that gap.
What the law does
Senate Bill 130, now signed into law as Act 42 of 2026, requires licensed funeral directors, funeral homes, and cemetery companies to notify their county government within 96 hours of receiving the remains of a deceased service member. That notification comes with a step that matters most to families: the funeral home must also hand them contact information for their county veterans affairs director.
The change applies to burials and cremations handled after September 18, 2026, so it is already in effect across the commonwealth.
Why it matters
Every state, and the federal VA, offers burial and memorial benefits for veterans, from headstones and burial flags to plot allowances and military funeral honors. Pennsylvania runs its own Burial Honors Program on top of federal offerings. But those benefits only help if a family knows to ask, and grief is rarely the moment people go looking for paperwork they didn't know existed.
The bill was authored by state Sen. Doug Mastriano, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, who worked with veterans service organizations to move it through the General Assembly. By putting the responsibility on funeral homes and cemeteries rather than on families, the law removes a step that too many veteran families were missing entirely, sometimes for years after a loss, before ever learning what they were owed.
What Pennsylvania veterans and families should know
Veterans and their families in Pennsylvania who want to see the full range of benefits available to them, from disability compensation to education and housing support, can start with our Pennsylvania veteran benefits guide. County veterans affairs directors, the same officials this new law connects families to automatically, are also a free resource for anyone navigating VA claims, pensions, or burial planning well before a loss occurs, not just after.
Laws like this one are a reminder that a lot of the support veterans have earned already exists, it just needs to reach the people who qualify for it. That is the same gap Operation WarriorFit works to close on the fitness side, connecting veterans, service members, and first responders with free race entries and a community they might not otherwise know was available to them. If that describes you or someone you served alongside, check your eligibility.