Do Burial Funds Count For SSI Burial Fund Exclusion?

As a general rule of thumb, you and your spouse may each set aside a sum of $1,500 for payment towards your funeral expenses, and in most cases this counts as a SSI burial fund exclusion.

If, however, you (and your spouse) have life insurance policies or any other burial arrangements additional to the $1,500 fund allowance, then some of this may be counted towards the resource limit of $2,000 for each individual or $3,000 for each couple.

The website SSA.gov addresses SSI and final expense insurance, “Final expense insurance policies are not life insurance policies (see SI 01130.300 for a definition of final expense insurance). For SSI purposes, final expense insurance is an irrevocable arrangement whose face value reduces the $1,500 burial funds exclusion by the policy’s face value.”

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Final Expense insurance (aka funeral insurance) is a basic issue life insurance policy that covers people until they reach 100 years old. Final Expense insurance (also known as funeral insurance) is promoted as a way to pay in advance for your funeral expenses so that your loved ones won’t have to pay for your funeral. There are many things you can do to make your death easier on the wallets of those you love. Preplanning your funeral saves money and grief, as well as deciding whether you want to be buried in a casket or cremated and put into and urn, figuring out who gets what part of your estate and all the related turmoil associated with the end of life.

Return to the Final Expense Insurance Information FAQ page.