Tennesseans Have Time to Apply for Federal Help with COVID-19 Funeral Expenses

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency encourages Tennesseans who lost loved ones to COVID-19 to apply for the assistance that is still available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help with funeral expenses.

“We’ve had about 38 percent of those eligible in Tennessee for COVID-19 funeral to apply with FEMA for the benefit,” TEMA Director Patrick Sheehan said. “At this time, there is no application deadline, so funeral assistance is still available and can help many who faced an unexpected and tragic expense.”

Tennesseans who may be eligible for the funeral assistance benefit can begin the registration process by calling FEMA’s COVID-19 funeral assistance phone number, 844-684-6333 (TTY: 800-462-7585), between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

The application process with FEMA should take about 20 minutes and multi-lingual services are available.  FEMA is not accepting online applications for the benefit, so a call to FEMA’s COVID-19 funeral assistance phone number is necessary to register and begin the process.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals, or qualified aliens who incurred funeral expenses after Jan. 20, 2020, for a death attributed to COVID-19. 

An applicant may apply for multiple deceased individuals with a maximum allowable amount of $9,000 per funeral, and a maximum of $35,500 per application.

More information on who can apply, what is eligible, and a list of frequently-asked questions can be found at COVID-19 Funeral Assistance | FEMA.gov.

About the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency: TEMA’s mission is to coordinate preparedness, response and recovery from man-made, natural and technological hazards in a professional and efficient manner in concert with our stakeholders. Follow TEMA on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and, at www.tn.gov/tema.

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