§ 9 — New York state veteran burial fund

§ 9. New York state veteran burial fund. 1. As used in this section,\n"agent in control of the disposition of remains" means the person\nresponsible or designated to control the disposition of a deceased\nveteran's remains as defined and outlined in section forty-two hundred\none of the public health law. The term "interment" means the disposition\nof remains as defined in paragraph (g) of section fifteen hundred two of\nthe not-for-profit corporation law. The term "burial" shall include the\nprocess as defined in paragraph (e) of section fifteen hundred two of\nthe not-for-profit corporation law.\n 2. As provided in subdivision nineteen of section four of this\narticle, there is hereby established within the department a New York\nstate veterans burial fund for honorably discharged members of the\nuniformed services of the United States who were residents of New York\nstate at the time of his or her death who (i) were honorably discharged\nfrom such service, or (ii) had a qualifying condition, as defined in\nsection one of this article, and received a discharge other than bad\nconduct or dishonorable from such service, or (iii) were discharged LGBT\nveterans, as defined in section one of this article, and received a\ndischarge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service.\n (a) Eligible recipients under this program shall be those who bore the\ncost of the funeral as the agent in control of the disposition of\nremains. An application shall be made available to an eligible\nrecipient. Any applicant convicted of making any false statement in the\napplication for the reimbursement shall be subject to the penalties\nprescribed in the penal law.\n (b) Such optional burial allowance is a reimbursement of an eligible\ndecedent's burial and interment costs not to exceed two thousand five\nhundred dollars in a New York state not-for-profit cemetery. The\nreimbursement is generally available as a plot interment allowance. Any\nallowance granted by the government of the United States, pursuant to 38\nU.S.C. §§ 2302, 2303, 2306, 2307 and 2308 or 10 U.S.C. § 1482 shall be\nfirst applied toward interment costs. An additional allowance of up to\nthe cost of the actual burial and interment as provided under\nsubdivision nineteen of section four of this article may be awarded to\ncover any remaining expenses.\n (c) Evidence of the military service of the decedent for each case\nshall be furnished in the manner and form prescribed by the state\ncommissioner; upon being satisfied that the facts in the application are\ntrue, the state commissioner shall certify to the state comptroller the\nname and address of such agent in control of the disposition of remains\nfor reimbursement as provided in this section.\n