Warren County Line of Duty Surviving Spouse Exemption

Warren County's Commissioner of the Revenue takes the statewide exemption for the unremarried surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces on the form "Application for Real Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Members of the Armed Forces Killed in Action", revised October 2025, with the Department of Defense documentation of the date of death and a marriage certificate. The spouse refiles only after a move or reports a remarriage. Because the county's elderly relief covers five acres, section 58.1-3219.9(D) carries up to five acres to the spouse too. Two parts of the county's materials are behind the statute. First, the form and its title still describe a member "killed in action". Since January 1, 2025 section 58.1-3219.9 covers a member who died in the line of duty with a Department of Defense Line of Duty determination, including a death by suicide. Second, the 2015 explanation sheet lists as qualifications that the "dwelling must be zoned as single family residential" and its "assessed value is not in excess of the county's average assessed value". Under section 58.1-3219.9(B) the average is only the yardstick: a home of any type, including a condominium, town home, or manufactured home, qualifies, and a home worth more than the average is exempt up to the average, with only the excess taxed. The same sheet does say, correctly, that the exemption follows the spouse to a new principal residence.