Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, FEMA has announced plans to provide financial assistance for COVID-19-related funeral expenses.
This month the Federal Emergency Management Agency will start reimbursing people for funeral costs that occurred on or after January 20th, 2020 up to $9,000 per funeral. There are cases throughout the country where the virus swept through families, and people who apply for assistance for multiple deaths could receive up to $35,500.
FEMA officials said it is working to establish a phone number for applicants, which will be set up in the coming weeks. No applications will be accepted online. United States residents will be able to call the designated number to get an application completed with help from FEMA’s representatives.
- No online applications will be accepted.
- Multilingual services and a TTY number will be available.
Once an applicant has applied for COVID-19 Funeral Assistance and is provided an application number, they may provide supporting documentation to FEMA a few ways:
- Upload to their DisasterAssistance.gov account
- Fax documents
- Mail documents
Those eligible to apply should start compiling records such as an official death certificate that shows the death occurred in the United State and attributes it to COVID-19, as well as receipts or contracts that document funeral expenses, FEMA officials said. The agency also asked applicants to start gathering any documents that show whether they received help for funeral costs from other agencies or sources.
Multiple people who may have helped pay for one funeral can plan to submit one application, and those who receive the assistance will get it in the form of a check or by direct deposit.
FEMA will begin accepting applications for the funeral assistance program on Monday, April 12th through its dedicated call center.
