Can I apply for a VA headstone for someone I am not related to?

Yes, in one specific case. Under 38 CFR 38.600(a)(1), any individual may apply for a burial headstone or marker if the dates of service of the veteran ended prior to 6 April 1917. For later service, the applicant must be a family member, personal representative, VSO representative, a state or local government employee whose duties include serving veterans, or a person responsible for the disposition of unclaimed remains.

Is there a time limit on claiming a headstone for an ancestor?

No. The VA furnishes a headstone or marker for the unmarked grave of an eligible veteran in any cemetery in the world, regardless of the date of death. Graves from the Civil War and earlier are still being marked today.

What documents prove service for a pre-World War I veteran?

A DD-214 will not exist. The VA requires detailed primary documentation such as muster rolls, extracts from official state files, Compiled Military Service Records, federal pension documents, or land warrants, or the name of the military or state organization in which the veteran served.

Does the grave have to be unmarked?

For a veteran who died before 1 November 1990 — which covers every ancestor case — yes. The applicant must certify that no privately purchased or government-furnished headstone is present on the grave. A stone that is broken or illegible with no readable name may leave the grave legitimately unmarked.

Can anyone apply for a memorial headstone for an ancestor?

No. The wider rule applies to burial headstones. For a memorial headstone or marker — used when remains were never recovered — 38 CFR 38.600(a)(2) requires the applicant to be a member of the decedent's family.

Who pays to install the ancestor's headstone?

The applicant. The VA furnishes the stone and ships it free, but the foundation, setting fee and any cemetery permit fall to whoever arranges the placement. This is the main cost in an ancestor headstone project.

Where can I find the original headstone application for an ancestor?

Applications made between roughly 1925 and 1963 were microfilmed by the National Archives and are searchable through Ancestry and FamilySearch. They often record the cemetery, unit, rank and dates, and can lead on to funeral, cemetery and pension records.

Home › Ancestor headstones

You do not have to be family

For a veteran whose service ended before 6 April 1917, federal regulation lets any individual apply for a free government headstone. That single clause is why unmarked Civil War graves are still being marked, more than a century later.

Under 38 CFR 38.600(a)(1), six categories of person may apply for a government headstone. The sixth is the one that matters here: any individual, if the dates of service of the veteran ended prior to 6 April 1917. No family relationship, no permission, no documentation of descent.

Who may apply, in full

A decedent's family member
A personal representative
A representative of a congressionally chartered Veterans Service Organization
An employee of a state or local government whose official responsibilities include serving veterans
Any individual responsible under state or local law for the disposition of unclaimed remains, or for matters related to the decedent's interment or memorialization
Any individual, if the veteran's dates of service ended before 6 April 1917

The sixth category is not a loophole. It is a deliberate provision, and it exists because Congress has spent a century and a half deciding that the graves of early American soldiers should be marked whether or not their descendants can be found.

The history behind the rule

On 11 September 1861 the War Department took over responsibility for granting deceased soldiers a marked grave — garrison commanders could no longer cope with the numbers.

On 3 March 1873 Congress granted burial rights in national military cemeteries to all honorably discharged Civil War veterans.

On 3 February 1879 an Act of Congress extended government-provided gravestones to soldiers buried in private cemeteries. That is the provision that still governs the ancestor case today.

What this makes possible

Genealogical societies, Sons of Union Veterans camps, SAR and DAR chapters, county historical societies and individual researchers use this to mark graves that have gone unmarked for a hundred and fifty years. A researcher in Ohio can mark a grave in Georgia for a soldier they are not related to.

Three conditions still apply, and they are the whole of the difficulty:

The grave must be unmarked	For any death before 1 November 1990 — which is every ancestor case — the applicant certifies that no headstone is present.
Service must be provable	No DD-214 exists for this era. See below.
The cemetery must consent	Someone at the cemetery, or the person responsible for the property, has to sign the form.

Proving service before World War I

This is where ancestor claims stall, and it is worth knowing what the VA will actually take:

Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) from the National Archives
Muster rolls
Extracts from official state files
Federal pension documents
Land warrants
Or the name of the military or state organization in which the veteran served

Pension files are the underrated one. A Civil War pension file often runs to dozens of pages and contains sworn statements about service, marriage, children and residence — it proves the service and hands you a family history at the same time.

The original application may already exist

Between roughly 1925 and 1963 the Quartermaster General's Cemeterial Division processed hundreds of thousands of headstone applications, and the National Archives microfilmed them. They cover veterans from conflicts going back to the Revolutionary War.

These are searchable today through Ancestry and FamilySearch. A found application typically records the cemetery, the unit, the rank and the dates — and from there leads on to funeral, cemetery and pension records. Around one in ten has a second image on the reverse, so check.

If an application already exists for your ancestor, a stone was ordered at some point. Whether it was ever set, and whether it survives, is a separate question — and one worth answering before you file a new claim.

One boundary worth understanding

The wide rule covers burial headstones — a marker for an actual grave.

A memorial headstone, used where remains were never recovered or identified, is governed by 38 CFR 38.600(a)(2) and requires the applicant to be a member of the decedent's family: spouse, child, parent or sibling, biological, adopted or step, and any lineal or collateral descendant.

So a researcher can mark a forgotten grave. Only family can commemorate a soldier whose grave was never found.

What it will cost you

The stone is free and the VA ships it free. The foundation, the setting fee and any cemetery permit are yours. For a single flat marker in a rural cemetery that is often a couple of hundred dollars; for an upright stone it can be considerably more.

This is the practical limit on ancestor projects, and it is why societies do them in batches and negotiate a rate with one installer for several graves at once.

Find the grave first

The claim needs a cemetery, a section and a plot. Most ancestor projects spend far longer locating the grave than filing the paperwork.

How to locate a veteran's grave

Applicant categories are set out in 38 CFR 38.600. This is general information, not an official determination — only the VA can decide a claim. The claim and the stone are free; no third-party service is required. Questions: 800-697-6947.