Shelby County

The Shelby County Clerk (Tony Harover, 501 Main Street, Shelbyville) records military discharges under KRS 422.090 - the county clerk records a resident's discharge without charge, keeps the recorded papers out of public disclosure (the index of names stays public), lists who may get a copy, and lets the veteran have every copy destroyed; the clerk's recorded series indexes military discharges among the records the office carries, with images for various document types back to 1980.

Any veteran with a discharge to record. Recording is free and the record is confidential under KRS 422.090; the veteran may later have every copy destroyed. The rating filter never hides this entry.

The Shelby County Fiscal Court - Judge/Executive Dan Ison (in office since his 2016 appointment, now in his second elected term) with magistrates Jon Swindler, Karen Waller, Joey Riddle, Bill Hedges, Gene Witt, Brock Lisby and Danny Eades, meeting the first Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. and the third Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Courthouse, 501 Main Street, Shelbyville - carried no veteran item in its forty-four window agendas (January 2025 through October 2026): the county's veteran record sits with its community, not with the court's paper.

No eligibility - a board record. The record documents the Fiscal Court’s window as read; it grants no individual entitlement.

Veterans Rural Outreach (VRO) - founded in Shelbyville in 2015 by six veterans - runs Veterans Village at 506 Bradshaw Street, Shelbyville (502-520-5300): six fully furnished tiny homes opened October 1, 2020 for homeless veterans, with a 2,300-square-foot community centre opened the following year and a six-month transitional-housing programme whose residents receive personalized care plans, individual on-site VA counseling, assistance with VA claims and home loans, and professional financial mentors; VRO also provides food assistance, emergency shelter, home repairs and advocacy across Shelby County and the surrounding region.

Homeless veterans, with a six-month transitional programme. Veterans Village houses homeless veterans from Shelby County and the region in furnished tiny homes with a six-month transitional programme and on-site VA counseling; no rating is needed.

Every Kentucky county clerk must record a resident's DD-214 or other discharge papers free; the recorded papers are not public records (only the index of names is), copies go only to the veteran and the family members and agents the statute lists, and the clerk must destroy every copy within 15 days if the veteran asks.

Any discharged veteran resident in the county. Recording is free for a resident of the county; copies go only to the people KRS 422.090(5) lists. No rating is needed.

An $80,000 lump sum from the state general fund when a Guard or Reserve member dies in the line of duty, split into an immediate payment and a trust when children are under 18.

No disability rating involved. The benefit turns on a line-of-duty death, not on any rating, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

A resident veteran rated 50% or more buys a $12.68 license bundling hunting, fishing, all deer permits, both turkey permits, waterfowl, and trout. The three-year term people quote is the authorization, not the license.

Service-connected rating of 50% or more. A Kentucky resident veteran at least fifty percent disabled as the result of a service-connected disability qualifies. This is the lowest meaningful gate in Kentucky and one of only two benefits that open before a total rating.

Free at 100% service-connected or with a VA vehicle grant. $23 initial and renewal between 50% and 99%, falling to $17 on January 1, 2027.

Service-connected rating of 50% or more for the reduced-fee plate. KRS 186.162(2)(d) sets the fee for a disabled veteran declared by the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs to be between fifty percent and ninety-nine percent service-connected disabled. Below fifty percent there is no disabled veteran plate, though a veteran with a qualifying discharge may still buy a general military plate at the same fee.

A Gold Star mother, father, or spouse receives up to two plates free of charge, which most summaries of this benefit omit entirely.

No disability rating involved. Eligibility turns on the death of a servicemember while serving and on the family relationship. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

A local board of education shall award a diploma to a veteran who left high school to serve in WWII, Korea, or Vietnam. The implementing regulation still covers only the first two wars.

No disability rating required. Eligibility turns on era of service, honorable discharge, and having left high school before induction. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

State grants for immediate needs and rent or utility assistance for veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk, with no rating requirement.

No disability rating required. Eligibility is honorable discharge and being homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry, and a veteran with no rating at all qualifies.

Kentucky has no veteran-specific property tax exemption. A totally disabled veteran claims the same $49,100 homestead exemption as a 65-year-old, and the only veteran-specific part is being excused from reapplying every year.

Total service-connected disability. Nothing below a total rating qualifies, at any percentage. Kentucky is close to all-or-nothing: apart from the hunting and fishing license and the reduced-fee plate at fifty percent, the benefits worth real money all require a total rating. There is no ladder of partial benefits between forty and one hundred, so crossing to one hundred opens several entries at once and nothing opens before it.

A 2026 law added PTSD to Kentucky's hyperbaric oxygen therapy statute. It creates a right of access, not a right to payment - the provider may charge the veteran the full cost.

No disability rating required. KRS 217.934 requires a diagnosis, a prescription, and written informed consent. No disability rating appears anywhere in KRS 217.930 to 217.942, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

An active Kentucky National Guard member gets resident tuition by statute. A nonresident veteran using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits gets a capped rate only if the university has adopted the optional policy.

No disability rating required. All three provisions turn on service status, GI Bill eligibility, or admission timing. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

All active duty pay is exempt, including drill and annual training pay for Guard and Reserve members, and a servicemember with no other income need not file a Kentucky return at all.

No rating, no wartime service, no discharge requirement. This is a current-service exemption rather than a veterans benefit. Nothing about a disability rating or a discharge affects it, and the rating filter never hides it.

A state medal for a servicemember killed in action on or after January 1, 1991, reaching members of any state's Guard or Reserve who named Kentucky as home of record.

No disability rating involved. Eligibility turns on the circumstances of death and a connection to Kentucky. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

Up to $31,110 of retired pay is excluded, and service before January 1, 1998 can push the exempt share higher through Schedule P. The exclusion has been frozen at $31,110 since 2018 while the tax rate keeps falling.

No disability rating and no wartime service required. The exclusion is general pension relief available to every Kentucky taxpayer with retirement income. Nothing about the rating, the era of service, or the character of discharge affects it.

$23 to start and $11 a year after, the cheapest renewal of any Kentucky military plate. A surviving spouse may keep a Purple Heart or POW plate and renew it indefinitely.

No disability rating required. Eligibility rests on the award, prisoner of war status, or presence at Pearl Harbor. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

Kentucky gives veterans a guaranteed interview rather than points. If fewer than five preference-eligible applicants are qualified, all of them are interviewed; if five or more, at least five are.

No disability rating and no wartime service required. KRS 18A.150 requires no rating from the applicant and no wartime service. A general discharge qualifies alongside an honorable discharge and a discharge under honorable conditions. The rating filter never hides this entry.

A resident former POW camps free in any Kentucky state park or campground, with no annual limit, no peak-period restriction, and no rating requirement.

No disability rating required. KRS 148.0211 requires prisoner of war status, an honorable discharge, and Kentucky residency. No rating appears anywhere in the section, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

Three free overnight stays a year at any Kentucky state park for a resident veteran rated 100% permanent and total, covering only the veteran, bookable only by phone and no more than ten days ahead.

Total service-connected disability. The statute requires one hundred percent permanent and total and says so twice. Kentucky is close to all-or-nothing: apart from the hunting and fishing license and the reduced-fee plate at fifty percent, the benefits worth real money all require a total rating. There is no ladder of partial benefits between forty and one hundred, so crossing to one hundred opens several entries at once and nothing opens before it.

Five state cemeteries, free to the veteran, with a $500 spousal fee payable only at death. Kentucky residency is not required, and accepting a federal commemorative urn forfeits eligibility.

No disability rating required. Eligibility rests on service and discharge rather than on any rating, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

Five state-run skilled nursing homes for Kentucky veterans. At a 70% rating or higher the VA per diem covers the whole cost and the veteran pays nothing out of pocket.

No minimum rating for admission. Admission requires veteran status, an other-than-dishonorable discharge, Kentucky residency at admission, a need for nursing care, and medical needs the facility can meet. No disability rating is required to be admitted, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

A child whose own disability is a direct result of the parent's service gets a tuition waiver with no age limit at all, and the veteran parent needs no disability rating.

The veteran needs no disability rating. Nothing in KRS 164.512 requires the veteran parent to hold any rating. The qualifying disability is the child's. This is the only Kentucky education benefit where the veteran's own rating is irrelevant, so the rating filter never hides it.

Two statutes, not one. The general deceased-veteran waiver runs 45 months and stops at 26 for a child; the killed-in-service waiver under KRS 164.505 carries neither limit.

No disability rating involved. Both sections turn on the veteran's death and its circumstances rather than on a rating, so the rating filter never hides this entry. A surviving family qualifies regardless of what rating the veteran held in life.

Tuition waived at Kentucky public institutions for the spouse at any age and children under 26 of a veteran rated 100% service-connected, with no wartime service needed. Forty-five months, tuition only, and the student need not live in Kentucky.

Veteran rated 100% service-connected, wartime service not required. KRS 164.515(1) names a one hundred percent service-connected disabled veteran regardless of wartime service, so a peacetime veteran at one hundred percent qualifies. The alternative branches are a permanently and totally disabled war veteran, a permanently and totally disabled Kentucky National Guard or Reserve member injured on state active duty or duty for training, a prisoner of war, or a member declared missing in action.

An honorably discharged veteran can have a veteran designation added to a Kentucky license or ID card, which is proof of service for discounts without carrying a DD-214.

No disability rating required. The designation requires only an honorable discharge and acceptable documentation. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.

A grant fund for organizations, not a source of aid to individual veterans. Funded mainly by the $5 earmark in veteran license plate fees, part of which was redirected in 2026.

Not a benefit individual veterans can claim. The fund makes grants to projects and programs that help Kentucky veterans, on application by organizations and decision by a Governor-appointed board. An individual veteran cannot apply for personal assistance. No disability rating is involved anywhere.

KRS 40.650 authorizes $10,000 loans to veterans for a home, business, education, medical or funeral costs, or debt consolidation. No implementing regulation or application could be found.

No implementing regulation or application could be found. KRS 40.650(3)(b)1 defines a qualified applicant as one who has met loan conditions established by an administrative regulation promulgated by the department, and subsection (5) directs the department to promulgate the necessary regulations. No such regulation was located, and the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs does not describe a personal loan program, an application, or a contact on its benefits pages or in its benefits summary. Treat the program as unavailable unless a KDVA benefits field representative says otherwise.

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)
• 1 more dated figure

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)
• 1 more dated figure

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.