Department of Veterans Affairs February 9, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend regulations governing disinterment of eligible decedents interred in VA national cemeteries. The amendment is necessary to clarify the requirements that must be met before VA can decide a disinterment request. Clarification of the requirements will help ensure consistent administration of disinterment requests at all VA national cemeteries. Current regulations permit disinterment only when all living immediate family members of the decedent, and the person who initiated the interment (whether or not such person is a member of the immediate family), all give their written consent, or when VA receives an order from a court or State instrumentality of competent jurisdiction directing the disinterment. We propose to clarify that if the individual who initiated the interment does not consent, or is not alive to provide consent, or all living immediate family members are not in agreement, anyone seeking disinterment of an eligible decedent must obtain an order from a court or State instrumentality of competent jurisdiction to direct the disinterment. This clarification will support the regulatory principle that all burials in national cemeteries are considered permanent and final and that a disinterment will be permitted only for cogent reasons, preserve the intent of the individual who initiated the interment, and ensure that a court or other appropriate entity rather than VA will adjudicate family disputes.