Cerro Gordo County

The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors - meeting Mondays at 10:00 a.m. in the Courthouse Boardroom - carried the window's veteran items on its posted minutes: the November 17, 2025 approval of the Assessor's recommendations for 'homestead credits, disabled veteran homestead credits, homestead exemptions, and military exemptions for Assessment Year 2025', the May 27, 2025 appointment of Cindy Davis and the May 26, 2026 reappointment of Jessica Reith and Cecil Foell to the Veteran Affairs Commission, the January 21, 2026 budget review with 'Veteran Affairs - General Assistance', and the July 28, 2025 dues line for 'Paul Beatty, Veterans Service Officers, Inc'.

No eligibility - a board record. The record documents the credit certifications, the commission appointments and the budget reviews; it grants no individual entitlement.

The Cerro Gordo County Recorder (AnnMarie Legler, 220 N. Washington Ave., Mason City; 641-421-3056, 641-421-3054, [email protected], weekdays 8:00 to 4:30) records military service discharges under the State's rules - free to the veteran, confidential under Iowa Code 331.608(6) - and the office's own recording-fee schedule prices conveyances and non-conveyances by page and names no discharge line; the county's military exemption requires the DD-214 to be recorded in Cerro Gordo County.

Any veteran with a discharge to record. The recorder records the discharge free and keeps it confidential under Iowa Code 331.608(6); the fee schedule names no discharge line. The rating filter never hides this entry.

Cerro Gordo County Veterans Affairs - Director Paul Beatty, CVSO, and Sean Gillam, CVSO, 220 N. Washington Ave., Courthouse Basement, Mason City (office 641-421-3085, claims line 641-421-3069, fax 641-421-3092), weekdays 8:00 to 4:30 - files federal and state claims (two accredited county veteran service officers), runs the county's own emergency assistance and the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund route, completes the Iowa DOT's veteran designation form, and answers to a five-member Veteran Affairs Commission (Jessica Reith chair, Cindy Davis vice chair, Richard Ochoa, Cecil Foell and Daryl Johnson) that meets in public at 9:00 a.m.

Any Cerro Gordo County veteran and dependents. The office assists county veterans and their families with federal and state claims; no rating is required, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.

The Cerro Gordo Veterans emergency assistance program 'provides assistance for Veterans with an Honorable or Under Honorable discharge' for basic needs - rent, utilities, food, toiletries and prescription medicine bills - to a county resident of at least sixty days who meets the income/asset guidelines and shows an emergency need that cannot be met by other means; the same office takes the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund applications for the state's own programme.

Honorable or Under Honorable discharge, sixty days in the county. The county’s own test: an honorable or under-honorable discharge, sixty days of county residency with intent to remain, income/asset guidelines and an emergency need other means cannot meet.

A county board of supervisors may appropriate money for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, medical benefits and a funeral for an indigent veteran and their indigent spouse, surviving spouse and minor children. The county commission is responsible for interring a veteran or family member who dies without means, up to a cap the supervisors set, so there is no statewide figure.

Assistance is a county option with no statewide amount. Iowa Code § 35B.14(1) says the board of supervisors "may" appropriate for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, medical benefits and a funeral. A county that appropriates nothing has nothing to pay from, and there is no state backstop.

All 99 counties must run a veteran affairs office in a county building, staffed a minimum number of hours a week by an accredited officer whose services are free by statute, and a county cannot fold the function into another agency. The state pays each county $10,000 a year for it and $3,000 for national training, and withholds the $10,000 from a county that misses its hours.

Free by statute, for veterans, relatives, beneficiaries and dependents. Iowa Code § 35B.6(1)(e): the department and county offices "shall not charge for any service provided to any individual". Paragraph (d)(2) extends assistance to all residents of the state and their relatives, beneficiaries and dependents.

Iowa will accept a VA certification of disability in place of a physician statement for a disability parking permit. A veteran who received a vehicle through the VA automobile grant needs no permit at all, because the free regular plates carry the parking rights, but taking a military special plate instead gives that up.

A VA certification of disability may replace a provider statement. Iowa Code § 321L.2(1): the department "may accept a certification of disability from the United States department of veterans affairs" in lieu of a physician or other provider statement, subject to rules on acceptable form. It is permissive, so confirm before relying on it.

A credit equal to the entire amount of property tax levied on the homestead, with no cap on the value. Four routes in: a VA-grant-acquired home, a permanent 100 percent rating, individual unemployability paid at the 100 percent rate, or receipt of DIC. For an application made on or after July 1, 2026 the homestead is limited to half an acre and excludes appurtenances.

A permanent 100 percent service-connected rating. 2026 Iowa Acts ch 1115, § 132, enacting Iowa Code § 425.1(2)(b)(1)(b). Recorded rather than enforced because the specially adapted housing route and the DIC route reach the credit with no rating at all.

An honorably discharged veteran may have the word VETERAN marked prominently on the face of an Iowa driver’s license. There is no fee for the marking, but a replacement card costs $10. If you prove status with a DD-214 at the counter, the state must tell your county veterans commission, and that commission must then contact you.

Honorably discharged, and holding an Iowa licence. Iowa Code § 321.189(8) requires "an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces of the United States". There is no Iowa residency at the time of service, no wartime period and no duration test.

Iowa subtracts all federal active duty pay, all military retirement pay, and all Survivor Benefit Plan annuities from state taxable income, with no age test and no dollar cap, on top of the general retirement income exclusion. Military retirement pay is not even counted toward the threshold for having to file a return.

No age test on the military retirement exclusion. Iowa Code § 422.7(20). Unlike the general retirement income exclusion in § 422.7(19), which needs the taxpayer to be disabled, fifty-five or older, or a qualifying survivor, the military exclusion has no age or disability condition and § 422.7(20)(b) makes it additive to the general one.

Every Iowa licensing board must expedite an application from a veteran or from the spouse of an active duty member who holds a similar licence in another state, and must issue a temporary licence where the scope of practice is not substantially similar so the applicant can practise while completing the gap. Boards must also give credit for military education, training and service.

A veteran qualifies directly, not only a military spouse. Iowa Code § 272C.12A(1) covers a person "who is married to an active duty member of the military forces of the United States or is a veteran, as defined in section 35.1".

Iowa public school is tuition free to a resident veteran past the usual age-21 cutoff, for as many months after turning twenty-one as the veteran spent in the armed forces before turning twenty-one. Almost nobody knows this provision exists.

The extension equals your months of service before age twenty-one. Iowa Code § 282.6(2). Service after the twenty-first birthday does not lengthen the window.

A $5 annual fishing or combined hunting and fishing licence for any Iowa resident who served on federal active duty, and a $5 lifetime version for one who was disabled or a prisoner of war, where a nought percent rating counts as disabled. The state veterans department publishes a $7 figure and the wrong eligibility test, and the administrative fee table still shows $59.50 for a licence the legislature cut to $5 in June 2026.

$5 a year for fishing or the combined licence, with no disability needed. Iowa Code § 483A.24(21) and 571 Iowa Administrative Code 15.10(1)(jj) and (kk). Any Iowa resident who served on federal active duty qualifies. The ordinary resident combined licence is $55.50 and the resident annual fishing licence is $21.

A vested or retired member of the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System with at least one full calendar year of covered wages may buy service credit for active duty military time, in calendar-quarter increments, at full actuarial cost. The bar is wide: you cannot buy if you are receiving, are eligible for, or may in the future be eligible for federal active duty retirement pay.

Vested or retired in IPERS with at least one full calendar year of covered wages. Iowa Code § 97B.80(1). Active duty service "at any time" qualifies, with no wartime period, residency, discharge or disability condition. The purchase is in increments of one or more calendar quarters and need not cover all of the service.

Up to $10,000 paid in $2,500 increments so a family can be with a service member injured in the line of duty after September 11, 2001. The rules were rewritten effective September 9, 2026: continuing payments now require treatment somewhere other than your home of record, and any injury sustained on or after January 1, 2027 carries a two-year application deadline.

Active duty service after September 11, 2001. Iowa Code § 35A.14(1). A national guard, reserve or regular component member, discharged under honorable conditions if discharged. A nonresident qualifies only through an Iowa national guard unit under paragraph "b".

A group health policy issued to an Iowa employer with more than fifty full-time equivalent employees must cover mental illness and substance use disorder treatment for an insured who is a veteran, and so must a public employee plan. A small employer’s policy must cover it only if the policy already covers those conditions, and individual policies are excluded outright.

A large-employer group plan must cover it outright. Iowa Code § 514C.27(1)(a): a group policy issued to an employer who on at least half of its working days in the preceding calendar year employed more than fifty full-time equivalent employees. Affiliated employers or those able to file a consolidated state return count as one employer.

A private Iowa employer may give hiring and promotion preference to a veteran, to the spouse of a veteran with a permanent compensable service-connected disability, and to the surviving spouse of a member who died on active duty in a military conflict. The statute declares that doing so does not violate the Iowa civil rights act.

Permission for the employer, not a right for the veteran. Iowa Code § 35.3 says a private employer "may" grant preference. No duty is created and no remedy is attached, unlike the public employment preference in chapter 35C.

A city or county cemetery in Iowa must let any veteran who owns land or lives in that jurisdiction buy an interment space and be buried there, plus a space for a spouse, and must let a surviving spouse buy one too. Separately, a funeral director holding unclaimed cremated remains may give the name to the state veterans department so the remains can reach a veterans cemetery.

A veteran who owns land in or lives in the subdivision may buy and be buried there. Iowa Code § 523I.304(7). The veteran’s own right carries no availability condition in the statute, and "landowner" is an alternative to living there, so a non-resident landowner qualifies. The cemetery must adopt and enforce a rule allowing it.

Iowa chapter 546B makes it a consumer fraud violation to take compensation for advising or assisting with a veterans benefit matter except as federal law permits, to take a referral fee for sending a veteran to an accredited representative, or to guarantee a benefit level. Anyone advertising a veterans benefits seminar must read out and print a specific disclaimer.

Taking compensation for claim help is unlawful except as Title 38 permits. Iowa Code § 546B.3(1). "Compensation" includes money, property "or anything else of value", including tying the help to a product purchase, and "veterans’ benefit matter" reaches Iowa department benefits and a person who has only expressed an intention to file.

A $5,000 grant toward buying a home in Iowa, administered by the Iowa Finance Authority, for a service member or veteran with 90 days of active duty after September 11, 2001 or during the Persian Gulf window of August 1990 to April 1991. Service entirely between those two windows does not qualify. The programme runs only to the extent it is appropriated, and $2,200,000 was appropriated for fiscal year 2026-2027.

Ninety days of active duty in one of two windows. Iowa Code § 16.54(1): on or after September 11, 2001, or during the Persian Gulf Conflict from August 2, 1990 to April 6, 1991. A currently serving member qualifies; a separated member must have been discharged under honorable conditions.

One set of any military plate is free, but the $5 annual special plate fee and the regular annual registration fee still apply, so a military plate costs $5 a year more than a regular one. Only three routes escape the annual registration fee: the Medal of Honor, the ex-prisoner of war plate at a flat $15, and a veteran who received a vehicle through the VA automobile grant.

The plain veteran plate needs only honorable-conditions service. Iowa Code § 321.34(27)(a) requires an owner who "served in the armed forces of the United States and was discharged under honorable conditions". The Department of Transportation additionally requires, for guard and reserve members, 90 days of active duty other than training or 20 years with eligibility for retired pay at 60.

$4,000 of taxable value exempted, which is roughly $100 to $150 of tax a year rather than $4,000. Seven routes in, not the single eighteen-month route the state veterans department advertises. You must record your discharge with the county recorder before you can claim, and since fiscal year 2025 the state no longer reimburses the counties for it.

$4,000 of taxable value, not $4,000 of tax. Iowa Code § 426A.11(2)(b). The Department of Revenue calculates it by taking the value after the assessment limitation and subtracting $4,000, so the saving is $4,000 times your consolidated levy per thousand: commonly around $120 to $140 a year.

Five percentage points added to a passing examination score, and five more for a service-connected disability or for receiving any VA compensation, disability benefit or pension. A Purple Heart counts as a service-connected disability. The points do not apply to promotions or to appointment of a police or fire chief, and they cannot be what makes you pass.

Five points, and five more for a service-connected disability or any VA compensation or pension. Iowa Code § 400.10(1). The second five is reached by a service-connected disability or by receiving compensation, disability benefits, or pension under laws VA administers, so VA pension without any rating reaches it.

An honorary high school diploma, naming the school you attended, for a veteran of World War I, World War II, Korea or Vietnam who left school to enter military service and never went back. It reaches former Iowa residents as well as current ones and may be issued posthumously to the family.

Left high school before graduating to enter military service. Iowa Code § 256.9(40). The programme is for veterans who left high school prior to graduation to enter United States military service.

A business at least 51 percent owned, operated and actively managed by service-disabled veterans can be certified as an Iowa targeted small business, which carries state and school procurement goals, and can borrow through the treasurer’s linked investment programme, whose definition of veteran reaches any discharge other than dishonorable. Self-certification is not allowed.

Fifty-one percent owned, operated and actively managed. Iowa Code § 15.102(12)(a) requires all three. The business must be in Iowa, operated for profit, and have annual gross income under $4,000,000 averaged over the three preceding fiscal years.

New in 2026: the University of Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa must waive all tuition and mandatory fees for a veteran with a permanent 100 percent service-connected rating. It is last-dollar only, so a veteran with Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement left is not eligible until that entitlement is exhausted, and individual unemployability does not qualify.

A permanent 100 percent service-connected rating, certified by VA. 2026 Iowa Acts ch 1058, enacting Iowa Code § 262.9(43)(a). Recorded rather than enforced because the entry also describes what happens to a veteran paid at the 100 percent rate through individual unemployability, who does not meet these words.

Iowa classifies a qualified veteran, a service member stationed in the state or at the Rock Island arsenal, and their spouses and dependent children as residents for undergraduate tuition at Regents institutions and community colleges. The veteran route requires Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility, or exhausted eligibility, and unlike federal law it carries no deadline after discharge.

The veteran route requires Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility, or exhausted eligibility. Iowa Code § 262.9(17)(b)(2)(c)(i). A Montgomery GI Bill user or a veteran with no education entitlement does not meet the Iowa words; raise 38 U.S.C. § 3679(c) instead.

Burial at the state cemetery near Van Meter is free for an honorably separated veteran and $300 for a spouse or eligible dependent child. Almost none of that is in statute: eligibility, the fee, the ban on reserving a plot and the ban on graveside services are all administrative, so the cemetery office is the only reliable source.

Honorable separation, using VA national cemetery standards. The department states eligibility "is the same as those for other cemeteries operated under the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs standards" and reaches any service member honorably separated from the service, their spouse, and eligible dependent children. The VA standard in 38 C.F.R. § 38.620 turns on a discharge other than dishonorable, which is wider than "honorably separated". Iowa Code § 35A.5(10) sets no eligibility criteria.

An Iowa employer must give a veteran employee time off on November 11 if the employee would otherwise have to work. The employer chooses whether it is paid, and may refuse only for public health or safety or significant economic or operational disruption. You must give one month of written notice and a discharge document, and the employer must answer ten days before the holiday.

Give written notice at least one month before November 11. Iowa Code § 91A.5A(3)(a) requires at least one month’s prior written notice plus a federal certificate of release or discharge from active duty or similar federal document. In practice the deadline is October 11.

Nursing and domiciliary care in Marshalltown for honorably discharged veterans, their spouses, surviving spouses and gold star parents. A veteran whose care draws the enhanced federal per diem for a service-connected condition pays nothing. Admission requires that you cannot be competitively employed, and spouses and gold star parents together cannot exceed a quarter of the residents.

You must be unable to earn a livelihood, at admission and throughout residency. Iowa Code § 35D.2(1) requires inability to earn a livelihood, and 801 Iowa Administrative Code 10.2(1)(b) states the individual cannot be competitively employed "on the day of admission or throughout the individual’s residency".

Chapter 35C is an entitlement to the job over other applicants of no greater qualifications, not a points bonus. The appointing officer must investigate, must appoint a qualified veteran of good moral character, and must file written reasons for public inspection. A veteran already in a public position cannot be removed except for incompetency or misconduct after a hearing, with the burden on the employer.

Preference over applicants of no greater qualifications, not points. Iowa Code § 35C.1(1). Where the veteran is equally or better qualified, § 35C.3 directs the appointing officer to appoint the veteran if of good moral character and able to perform the duties.

A lottery-funded state trust that pays for fifteen named things, from dental and vision care to vehicle repair, emergency housing and a one-time homelessness prevention payment capped at $1,000. Apply through your county veterans service officer. Traumatic brain injury screening is the one purpose the statute exempts from any income limit.

A closed list of fifteen purposes. Iowa Code § 35A.13(8). The commission cannot add a purpose itself; § 35A.13(10) requires it to recommend additions to the general assembly. Expenditures need a majority vote of the commission membership.

Two tiers in one statute, split by September 11, 2001. A child of a service member who died before that date gets $600 a year and $3,000 for life. A child of one who died on or after it gets up to the highest Regents resident undergraduate tuition rate each year, five times over. The implementing rules were rescinded with no replacement on June 3, 2026.

September 11, 2001 splits the benefit in two. Iowa Code § 35A.13(9)(b) applies where the parent died before that date and caps assistance at $600 a year and $3,000 for life. § 35A.13(9)(c) applies on or after it and reaches the highest Regents resident undergraduate tuition rate, five times over.

Iowa writes at least a dozen different definitions of veteran and they do not agree on service, discharge, residency or disability. Section 35.1 is the master definition, but the property tax exemption adds an eighteen-month rule, the small business loan program reaches a discharge other than dishonorable, and four separate programs each define disability differently.

Section 35.1 is four alternative routes, not one test. Iowa Code § 35.1(2). Paragraph "a" is thirteen wartime periods whose last window, beginning August 2, 1990, is still open. Paragraph "b" is seven routes including twenty-year reserve and guard members who are still serving. Paragraph "c" is any federal active duty other than training. Paragraph "d" is any component plus receipt of service-connected disability.

A higher VA pension for a veteran or survivor who needs another person’s help with daily living or is confined to the home. The yearly cap for a veteran alone is $29,093 with Aid and Attendance and $21,313 housebound.

• MAPR, veteran alone with Aid and Attendance, effective December 1, 2025: $29,093 a year (read 2026-10-08)
• MAPR, veteran alone, Housebound, effective December 1, 2025: $21,313 a year (read 2026-10-08)
• Pension net worth limit, December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026: $163,699 (read 2026-10-08)

Pension income and net worth. The person must qualify for Veterans Pension or Survivors Pension. Countable income must be under the MAPR and net worth under $163,699 (December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026).

A free lifetime pass to national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests and other federal lands for every U.S. military veteran and Gold Star family, and a free annual pass for current members and dependents.

Veteran or Gold Star family. Any veteran, including Guard and Reserve; current members and dependents for the annual pass.

A one-time payment of up to $27,908.90 toward a vehicle, plus adaptive equipment such as hand controls and lifts, for service-connected loss of a hand or foot, severe vision loss, severe burns, or ALS.

• Automobile allowance, effective October 1, 2026: up to $27,908.90 (read 2026-10-08)

Qualifying loss. A service-connected loss or loss of use of a hand or foot, permanent bilateral vision impairment, a severe burn, or ALS. A combined percentage alone does not qualify.

A free gravesite, opening and closing, vault liner, headstone and perpetual care in a VA national cemetery for an eligible veteran, and for an eligible spouse or dependent child.

Eligible veteran or family member. Service and discharge rules for the veteran; spouse and dependent paths follow.

Health coverage for a spouse or child of a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, or who died in service or from a service-connected disability.

Permanent and total disability. A living sponsor is generally a veteran whom VA rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability. Death in service and death from a service-connected disability are other paths.

Military pay earned in any month served in a combat zone is free of federal income tax, in full for enlisted members and warrant officers and up to the top enlisted rate plus hostile fire pay for officers.

Service in a combat zone. Service in a designated combat zone or qualified hazardous duty area.

A tax-free monthly payment to a military retiree, at any rating from 10%, that replaces retired pay lost to the VA offset for disabilities the service branch decides are combat-related.

Rated 10% or more. A VA rating of at least 10% for a disability the service branch decides is combat-related, plus military retired pay.

Shopping at military commissaries and exchanges, and MWR retail, for every veteran with a VA service-connected rating, Purple Heart recipients, former POWs and primary family caregivers, since January 1, 2020.

Any service-connected rating. Any VA service-connected rating, including 0%; Purple Heart, former POW and caregiver paths need none.

Lets a military retiree rated 50% or more receive retired pay and VA disability compensation at the same time, instead of having retired pay cut dollar for dollar.

Rated 50% or more. A combined service-connected rating of at least 50%, plus military retired pay.

A free copy of a DD-214 and other service records from the National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center, requested online or on Standard Form 180.

Monthly tax-free payment to a surviving spouse, child, or parent after a service-connected death, or in defined cases after the death of a totally disabled veteran.

• Surviving spouse basic monthly rate, effective December 1, 2025: $1,699.36 (read 2026-10-08)

Education and training help for a spouse or child of a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, or who died in service or from a service-connected disability.

• Full-time monthly rate, October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2027: $1,621.00 (read 2026-10-08)

Sponsor status. One path is a veteran rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability. Death in the line of duty and death from a service-connected disability are other paths.

Asks the service branch’s Discharge Review Board or Board for Correction to upgrade a discharge, with liberal consideration for PTSD, TBI, sexual assault or harassment, and the repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

Up to 9 more months of Post-9/11 GI Bill or Fry benefits, or $30,000, for a student finishing a STEM degree or clinical training who has 6 months or less of entitlement left.

100% level and nearly exhausted. The student must be at the 100% Post-9/11 or Fry level with six months or less of entitlement left.

Life insurance through the service member for a spouse, up to $100,000 and not more than the member’s SGLI, and $10,000 free for each dependent child.

Spouse or child of an SGLI-insured member. The service member must have full-time SGLI.

Three ways a federal agency can hire a veteran outside or ahead of normal competition: VEOA for merit promotion jobs, VRA up to GS-11, and noncompetitive appointment for a veteran rated 30% or more.

30% for the disabled veteran authority. The 30% authority needs a compensable service-connected rating of 30% or more; VEOA and VRA have no rating floor.

VA disability compensation, pension, DIC, education and grant payments are not federal taxable income, and retired pay replaced by a retroactive VA rating can be refunded.

Five or ten points added to a passing score, or priority in category rating, for a qualifying veteran applying for a federal competitive service job, with ten points for a service-connected disability.

Qualifying service and honorable conditions. A war, campaign, listed period, or a service-connected disability for 10 points.

A free government headstone or marker for the grave of an eligible veteran in any cemetery, or a medallion to fix to a privately bought headstone.

Eligible veteran or service member. Discharge other than dishonorable, with the service rules for the era.

Transitional housing with services, for up to about two years, from community agencies VA funds, for a homeless veteran.

Homeless veteran. The veteran must be homeless and eligible for VA health care or the program’s expanded criteria.

A HUD Housing Choice rental voucher paired with VA case management for a homeless veteran, with housing first and no sobriety or treatment precondition.

Homeless and low income. The veteran must be homeless and meet the public housing agency’s income limit.

Compensation at the 100% rate, $3,938.58 a month for a veteran alone, for a veteran whose service-connected disabilities keep them from holding a steady job, without changing the rating itself.

• Rate paid, veteran alone, effective December 1, 2025: $3,938.58 a month (read 2026-10-08)

Schedular rating gate. One disability at 60% or more, or a combined 70% with one disability at 40% or more. An extraschedular award below that is possible, so the filter uses the lowest schedular floor and does not hide the entry for an unanswered rating.

Free job search help from veterans’ employment specialists at American Job Centers, with priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses in every Labor Department-funded job program.

Veteran or eligible spouse. Any veteran or eligible spouse; DVOP services target listed barriers.

VA pays back the fees for a licensing or certification test, up to $2,000 a test, and for prep courses, out of GI Bill or DEA entitlement.

• Maximum reimbursement per test: $2,000 (read 2026-10-08)

Covered by a VA education benefit. Chapter 33, 30, 1606 or 35.

Up to 36 months of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at the 100% level for the child or surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty after September 10, 2001.

Line of duty death after September 10, 2001. The service member must have died in the line of duty, or from a service-connected disability within the listed windows, on or after September 11, 2001.

A special monthly pension of $5,780 for each living Medal of Honor recipient, paid regardless of income or other benefits.

• Medal of Honor pension, effective December 1, 2025: $5,780 a month (read 2026-10-08)

Medal of Honor Roll. The recipient must be entered on the Medal of Honor Roll.

An honor guard of at least two uniformed members, one from the veteran’s branch, who fold and present the flag and play Taps, at the family’s request and at no cost.

Eligible veteran. Active duty or Selected Reserve service with a discharge other than dishonorable.

Free VA treatment for any physical or mental health condition related to military sexual trauma, without having reported it at the time and regardless of discharge status or length of service.

MST during service. Care is for conditions related to military sexual trauma. Discharge status and length of service do not bar it.

Up to 36 months of education payments, $2,601 a month for full-time school from October 1, 2026, for a veteran who paid $1,200 into the program during active duty.

• Full-time monthly rate, effective October 1, 2026: $2,601.00 (read 2026-10-08)

Service and contribution. Active duty after June 30, 1985, with the $1,200 contribution and the required service, or another listed category.

Up to 36 months of education payments, $508 a month full time from October 1, 2026, for a Guard or Reserve member with a six-year Selected Reserve obligation.

• Full-time monthly rate, effective October 1, 2026: $508.00 (read 2026-10-08)

Six-year Selected Reserve obligation. A six-year obligation in the Selected Reserve, and continued satisfactory participation.

A direct VA mortgage, from 2.47% fixed for 30 years when read, to buy, build or improve a home on federal trust land for a Native American veteran or a veteran married to a Native American.

• NADL interest rate, as posted: from 2.47% (read 2026-10-08)

Native American veteran on trust land. A Native American veteran, or a veteran married to one, buying on trust land of a tribe with a VA memorandum of understanding.

Expanded VA health care and presumptive disability compensation for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, radiation and other toxins, with health care enrollment open to every eligible toxic-exposed veteran since March 5, 2024.

Covered service. Service in a location and period the PACT Act covers, plus the basic service and discharge rules for VA health care.

Education assistance tied to qualifying active duty after September 10, 2001. Often called the GI Bill or Chapter 33.

• Private and foreign school tuition cap, August 1, 2026, to July 31, 2027: $30,908.34 a year (read 2026-10-08)

Lets a service member with six years of service who agrees to four more transfer up to 36 months of unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child.

Six years served, four more agreed. Must be requested while serving, with at least six years of service and a four-year added commitment.

An engraved certificate signed by the current President honoring a deceased veteran or reservist eligible for national cemetery burial, free to next of kin, family and friends.

Eligible for national cemetery burial. The veteran or reservist must have been eligible for burial in a national cemetery.

A monthly stipend, training, respite, mental health counseling and, in some cases, CHAMPVA health coverage for the family caregiver of a veteran rated 70% or more who needs in-person personal care.

Veteran rated 70% or more. The veteran must have a single or combined service-connected rating of 70% or more.

Free business training, counseling and loan guidance for veterans, service members and military spouses through Boots to Business and Veterans Business Outreach Centers.

Low-cost term life insurance of up to $500,000 for service members, at 5 cents per $1,000 a month plus $1 for traumatic injury coverage.

• Maximum coverage and premium: $500,000; 5 cents per $1,000 a month, plus $1 TSGLI (read 2026-10-08)

Serving member. Active duty, or Ready Reserve or Guard with scheduled drills, or another covered status.

Expedited Social Security disability claims for a service member disabled on active duty on or after October 1, 2001, and for a veteran rated 100% permanent and total by VA.

100% P&T, or disabled on active duty. A 100% P&T VA rating is one path to expedited processing; disability on active duty after September 30, 2001, is the other.

Extra earnings credited to a Social Security record for active duty from 1957 through 2001: $300 a quarter from 1957 to 1977, and $100 for each $300 of pay from 1978 to 2001, up to $1,200 a year.

• Military wage credit, 1978 to 2001: $100 per $300 of pay, up to $1,200 a year (read 2026-10-08)

Free seats left over on military aircraft for service members, retirees, Guard and Reserve members, their dependents, some surviving spouses, and veterans with a permanent service-connected disability rated as total.

Permanent total rating for veterans. A veteran who is not a retiree qualifies only with a permanent service-connected disability rated as total, and flies only within and between the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa. Members, retirees, Guard and Reserve members and dependents have their own paths.

A higher or added monthly rate for a service-connected loss of a limb, an organ or its use, blindness, being housebound, or needing another person’s daily help. SMC-K adds $139.87 a month to any rating from 0% up.

• SMC-K, added monthly amount, effective December 1, 2025: $139.87 (read 2026-10-08)
• SMC-S, veteran alone, effective December 1, 2025: $4,408.53 (read 2026-10-08)
• SMC-R.2/T, veteran alone, effective December 1, 2025: $11,271.67 (read 2026-10-08)

A specific service-connected loss. Each SMC level is set by a specific loss, or loss of use, or by the need for aid and attendance or being housebound. SMC-K is paid at any combined rating, including 0%.

Grants to build, buy or adapt a barrier-free home for a veteran with certain severe service-connected disabilities: up to $126,526 (SAH) or $25,350 (SHA) in fiscal year 2026, with temporary residence grants of $50,961 or $9,100.

• SAH maximum, fiscal year 2026: $126,526 (read 2026-10-08)
• SHA maximum, fiscal year 2026: $25,350 (read 2026-10-08)

Qualifying severe disability. A specific service-connected loss, loss of use, blindness, burn or other listed condition. A combined percentage alone does not qualify.

Grant-funded help, including temporary rent, deposits, utilities and case management, to keep a very low-income veteran family housed or rehouse it quickly.

Very low income. A very low-income veteran family under 38 C.F.R. part 62, homeless or at imminent risk.

A monthly annuity to a military retiree’s surviving spouse or child, generally 55% of the chosen base amount of retired pay, and automatic coverage for the survivors of a member who dies on active duty.

• Standard annuity for a spouse: 55% of the base amount (read 2026-10-08)

Retiree election or death on active duty. The retiree elected coverage at retirement, or the member died on active duty.

Needs-based monthly payment for a surviving spouse or child of a wartime veteran with limited income and net worth.

• MAPR, surviving spouse with no child, effective December 1, 2025: $11,699 a year (read 2026-10-08)

Income and net worth. Survivors Pension is needs-based. Income and net worth must fall under the current VA limits. Confirm the survivors pension rate chart.

A one-time payment of $25,000 to $100,000 to a service member with SGLI who suffers a scheduled traumatic loss, such as amputation, paralysis, blindness or an inability to perform daily activities.

• TSGLI payment range: $25,000 to $100,000 (read 2026-10-08)

SGLI-covered traumatic injury. SGLI coverage at the time of a traumatic injury that causes a scheduled loss.

Protects a civilian job, seniority and health coverage when a worker leaves for military service, for up to five years of cumulative service with one employer.

Civilian employee entering service. Covers employees who leave a civilian job for uniformed service and meet the notice and return rules.

A free U.S. flag to drape the casket or accompany the urn of an eligible veteran or reservist, given to the next of kin.

Eligible veteran or reservist. Service in a listed period or status with a discharge other than dishonorable.

Mileage at 41.5 cents a mile, less a $3 one-way deductible capped at $18 a month, for travel to VA or VA-approved care by a veteran rated 30% or more, traveling for a service-connected condition, on pension, or with low income.

• Mileage rate: 41.5 cents a mile (read 2026-10-08)
• Deductible: $3 one way, $6 round trip, $18 a month cap (read 2026-10-08)

Rated 30% or more, or another path. A 30% rating qualifies for all care. Travel for a service-connected condition, pension, low income and C&P exams are other paths below 30%.

Burial in a VA national cemetery, a government headstone or marker, and in some cases a burial allowance.

Money toward a veteran’s funeral and burial: up to $2,000 for a service-connected death after September 10, 2001, and $1,032 each for burial and plot for a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2026.

• Service-connected burial allowance, death after September 10, 2001: up to $2,000 (read 2026-10-08)
• Non-service-connected burial and plot allowances, death on or after October 1, 2026: $1,032 each (read 2026-10-08)

Paid the costs, not reimbursed. The claimant paid the burial costs, and the veteran was not dishonorably discharged and meets a service-connected or listed non-service-connected condition.

A VA-backed refinance of any existing mortgage, VA or not, that can take cash out of home equity, with a 2.15% funding fee on first use and 3.3% after.

• Cash-out refinance funding fee: 2.15% first use, 3.3% after (read 2026-10-08)

VA home loan eligibility. A valid Certificate of Eligibility and occupancy of the home.

A yearly payment of $1,053.19 for each qualifying item when a service-connected prosthetic or orthopedic device, or a prescribed skin medication, wears out or stains clothing.

• Clothing allowance, effective December 1, 2025: $1,053.19 (read 2026-10-08)

Service-connected disability. The device or medication must be for a service-connected disability. No percentage floor applies.

VA-paid care from a community provider when VA cannot see an enrolled veteran within 30 minutes’ drive and 20 days for primary or mental health care, or 60 minutes and 28 days for specialty care.

Enrolled in VA health care. The veteran must be enrolled in VA health care or otherwise eligible for VA care, and meet one of the six community care criteria.

Free comprehensive dental care for a veteran rated 100% or paid at the 100% rate for unemployability, or who is a former prisoner of war, with narrower classes for other veterans.

100% for full dental (Class IV). Full dental care needs a 100% schedular rating; individual unemployability and former POW status are other full-care paths, and narrower classes reach other veterans.

Monthly tax-free pay for an illness or injury VA decides is connected to military service.

Combined rating. VA assigns a combined rating from 0% to 100%. Monthly compensation generally starts at 10%. A 0% rating can still matter for health care and other benefits.

When VA decides a beneficiary cannot manage VA payments, it appoints a fiduciary to receive and manage them, and oversees that fiduciary.

Enrollment in the VA health care system. A disability rating can change priority and copays. It is not the only way in.

Enrollment. No single combined-rating minimum applies to everyone. A rating can change priority group and copays. Other enrollment paths exist.

Hearing aids, eyeglasses and contact lenses for an enrolled veteran with a compensable service-connected disability, a Purple Heart, former POW status, and other listed situations.

Compensable rating, or another listed path. A compensable (10% or more) service-connected rating is the most common path. Purple Heart, former POW and other listed paths have no rating floor.

No VA funding fee, which is otherwise 1.25% to 3.3% of a purchase loan, for a veteran receiving or entitled to VA compensation, a surviving spouse on DIC, a Purple Heart recipient on active duty, and a service member with a pre-discharge rating.

• Purchase funding fee, under 5% down, first use and after: 2.15% and 3.3% (read 2026-10-08)

Receiving or entitled to compensation. A compensable service-connected rating is the usual path. DIC surviving spouses and active-duty Purple Heart recipients are exempt without one.

A guaranty that helps an eligible veteran, service member, or some surviving spouses buy, build, or refinance a home with a private lender.

A streamline refinance of an existing VA-backed loan to a lower rate or from an adjustable to a fixed rate, with a 0.5% funding fee and usually no appraisal.

• IRRRL funding fee: 0.5% of the loan (read 2026-10-08)

Existing VA-backed loan. The loan being refinanced must already be VA-backed.

Mental health care from VA, including free emergency suicidal crisis care for any veteran and most former service members, whatever the discharge or enrollment status.

Discharge and enrollment. Routine care follows VA health care enrollment. Emergency suicidal crisis care does not need enrollment or a qualifying discharge.

Needs-based monthly payment for a wartime veteran with limited income who is 65 or older, or permanently and totally disabled.

• MAPR, veteran with no dependents, effective December 1, 2025: $17,441 a year (read 2026-10-08)
• Net worth limit, December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026: $163,699 (read 2026-10-08)

Income and net worth. Pension is needs-based. Countable income must fall under the MAPR ($17,441 for a veteran alone from December 1, 2025) and net worth under $163,699.

Artificial limbs, wheelchairs, home oxygen, orthotics, mobility aids and home medical equipment for an enrolled veteran who needs them, prescribed by a VA clinician.

Enrolled and prescribed. The veteran must be enrolled in VA health care and the item prescribed by a VA clinician.

Up to $100 a month, and $1,200 over a lifetime, for tutoring in a course a GI Bill student is failing or at risk of failing.

• Tutorial assistance limit: $100 a month, $1,200 lifetime (read 2026-10-08)

Using VA education benefits at half time or more. The student must be using a VA education benefit at half time or more.

Free help with a VA claim from a VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization representative, or paid help from an accredited attorney or claims agent after an initial decision.

Tuition, housing and books for a non-degree high-tech training program, for a veteran or separating service member with 36 months of active duty, limited to 4,000 paid participants a fiscal year.

36 months of active duty. At least 36 months of active duty, a discharge other than dishonorable or within 180 days of separating, and under 62.

Free, confidential counseling at community Vet Centers for combat veterans, service members, survivors and families, kept apart from the VA medical record and open without VA health care enrollment.

Combat theater or listed service. The service member or veteran must meet one of the 38 U.S.C. 1712A service descriptions. No rating or enrollment is needed.

A free digital Veteran ID Card for proof of service at businesses, for a veteran with an honorable or general discharge, and a VA health ID card for enrolled veterans.

Honorable or general discharge. The VIC needs an honorable or general discharge; the VHIC needs VA health care enrollment.

Work support, and sometimes training, when a service-connected disability limits the work a veteran can do. Also called VR&E or Voc Rehab.

Service-connected rating. The basic published gate is a service-connected disability rating of at least 10%, plus an employment handicap. A memorandum rating is a separate path for some serious employment handicaps.

SBA certification that lets a veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned small business compete for federal sole-source and set-aside contracts.

Any service-connected rating for SDVOSB. SDVOSB needs a service-connected disability at any rating, including 0%. VOSB needs no rating.

Guaranteed-acceptance whole life insurance of up to $40,000 for a veteran 80 or younger with any service-connected rating, including 0%, with no health questions.

• Maximum coverage: $40,000 (read 2026-10-08)

Any service-connected rating. Any service-connected rating qualifies, including 0%.

Paid part-time work on VA-related jobs at a school, VA facility or veterans’ organization for a student using VA education benefits at three-quarter time or more.

Three-quarter time or more. Enrolled at least three-quarter time and using a listed VA education benefit.

Renewable term life insurance of $10,000 to $500,000 after separation, converting SGLI. No health review if the application is in within 240 days.

Within 1 year and 120 days of leaving. A former SGLI-insured member applying within the window.

Mortgage life insurance of up to $200,000, paid to the lender, for a veteran under 70 who has received a Specially Adapted Housing grant.

• Maximum coverage: $200,000 (read 2026-10-08)

Specially Adapted Housing grantee under 70. The veteran must have received an SAH grant and apply before 70.

A federal tax credit to employers of up to $9,600 for hiring a qualified veteran, for hires who began work on or before December 31, 2025. The credit has expired for later hires unless Congress extends it.

Qualified veteran hired by December 31, 2025. A veteran in a WOTC target group who began work on or before December 31, 2025.

Covers private, out-of-state, foreign or graduate tuition above the Post-9/11 GI Bill cap, matched by the school, for a student at the 100% benefit level.

• Private and foreign tuition cap, August 1, 2026, to July 31, 2027: $30,908.34 (read 2026-10-08)

100% Post-9/11 level. The student must be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the 100% level, and the school must take part.