FEMA to Cover $2 Billion in 2020 COVID-19 Funeral Expenses

FEMA announced a new kind of relief centered around funerals on Wednesday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced that it will be providing a different kind of relief for Americans. The agency will be using two billion dollars of relief funds and will be helping reimburse family members that are dealing with grief and financial burden from COVID-19 funerals in 2020. 

As we all know, funerals can be expensive.

The average funeral expense today for a burial service is between eight and nine thousand dollars. So, I think FEMA is right on target with that figure of nine thousand dollars. I can imagine that it’s going to be a tremendous relief for family members...said Roger Sharp of Sharp Funeral Home.

FEMA will be giving up to $9,000 for each individual who died between late January of 2020 to the end of 2020. If multiple members of the same family passed away because of COVID-19, the agency will give the family up to $35,000.

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If your family experienced a loss because of COVID last year, you will need to follow a couple of steps to claim that relief. First, you will need to provide a death certificate that has the cause of death listed as COVID-19 or as symptoms related to COVID-19. Second, you will also have to provide an itemized funeral statement of the funeral goods and services.

FEMA will be announcing how to apply and where to apply for this relief in April. There will also be a 1-800 number that will be made available soon.

Source: ABC 12