 TITLE: How to Pay for a Funeral CONTENT: What Happens if You Can't Afford a Funeral?\n-------------------------------------------\nIf you can't afford a burial or cremation, don't despair. There may be a number of alternatives available to you. These include:\n*   **Veterans' benefits**: If a loved one was a U.S. military veteran, the federal government might pick up the tab for their gravesite, headstone, vault and interment at a national cemetery. Survivors would be responsible for the remaining expenses.\n*   **Help from an employer**: Some businesses offer survivor benefits to loved ones of deceased employees, as do some labor unions. These benefits could cover some or even all of the funeral expenses.\n*   **Government aid**: Some local or state agencies may chip in money to pay some of the funeral costs for an indigent person, or for somebody who received Medicaid, Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income benefits.\n*   **Victims' assistance**: Some states offer financial relief for survivors who are putting accident or homicide victims to rest.\n*   **Charitable contributions**: If you find yourself unable to come up with money for a loved one's funeral, consider approaching your church, a nonprofit or another local organization for help. You also might create a fundraising campaign on a crowdfunding platform like GoFundMe.\n*   **Donation of the body**: Donating a body to a local medical school will eliminate the cost of burial. END