Substitute House Bill No. 6480
Public Act No. 21-112
AN ACT CONCERNING THE FUNERAL EXPENSES OF CERTAIN
VETERANS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 27-118 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021):
(a) When any veteran dies, not having sufficient estate to pay the
necessary expenses of the veteran's last sickness and [burial] funeral
expenses, as determined by the commissioner after consultation with
the probate court for the district in which the veteran resided, the state
shall pay the sum of one thousand eight hundred dollars toward such
funeral expenses. [, and the burial]
(b) Burial shall be in some cemetery or plot not used exclusively for
the burial of the pauper dead. [, and the same amount shall be paid if
the body is cremated, but no]
(c) No amount shall be paid for [the] funeral expenses [for burial or
cremation] unless claim therefor is made within one year from the date
of death, except that in cases of death occurring abroad, such claim may
be made within one year after the remains of such veteran have been
interred in this country. No provision of this section shall prevent the
payment of the sum [above named for the burial of any person, Substitute House Bill No. 6480
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otherwise entitled to the same,] under subsection (a) of this section for
funeral expenses on account of [such] the burial of such veteran being
made outside the limits of this state.
(d) Upon satisfactory proof by the person who has paid or provided
for the funeral [or burial expense] expenses to the commissioner of the
identity of the deceased, the time and place of the deceased's death and
burial and the approval thereof by the commissioner, [said] the sum [of
one thousand eight hundred dollars] under subsection (a) of this section
shall be paid by the Comptroller to the person who has paid the funeral
[or burial expense or, upon assignment by such person, to the funeral
director who has provided the funeral] expenses.
(e) Whenever the Comptroller has lawfully paid any sum toward the
funeral expenses of [the burial of] any deceased veteran and it
afterwards appears that the deceased left any estate, the Comptroller
may present a claim on behalf of the state against the estate of such
deceased veteran for the sum so paid, and the claim shall be a preferred
claim against such estate and shall be paid to the Treasurer of the state.
The commissioner, upon the advice of the Attorney General, may make
application for administration upon the estate of any such deceased
veteran if no other person authorized by law makes such application
within sixty days after such payment has been made by the Comptroller.
(f) As used in this section, (1) "veteran" means any person [(1)] (A)
honorably discharged from, or released under honorable conditions
from active service in, the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, or
[(2)] (B) with a qualifying condition, as defined in said section, who has
received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from active
service in the armed forces; and (2) "funeral expenses" means (A) the
cash advances paid by the funeral director and the cost of funeral
services and funeral merchandise, (B) the cost of burial, cremation or
disposition, and (C) the cost of publication of an obituary. "Funeral
merchandise" includes, but is not limited to, alternative containers, Substitute House Bill No. 6480
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caskets, urns, vaults and outer burial containers.