Kent County Clerk: Free Copies of a Recorded DD-214
The County Clerk gives free certified copies of a recorded DD-214 to the veteran, anyone with the veteran's written permission, the heirs and a service officer, and charges…
VetTOC · Veteran benefits reference
Kent County, Michigan
Free help with a VA claim
- Michigan County Departments of Veterans Affairs. A county may, but need not, create a department of veterans affairs. A state grant of $50,000 plus a per veteran amount is what pushes them to, on conditions including 20 hours a week of service and a maintenance-of-effort floor. www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-35-623a
Find a VA-accredited representative: www.va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative/find-rep
Kent County benefits
Kent County Soldiers and Sailors Relief Fund: Emergency Grants
Kent County's relief fund pays one-off grants toward rent, deposits, utilities, food, home repairs and car repairs after a recent unforeseen hardship.
Kent County Veteran Burial Allowance, Marker Setting and Honor Guard
Since July 1, 2026 Kent County pays $1,000 toward the burial of an eligible wartime veteran or spouse, up from the State floor of $300, and $200 toward setting the free VA…
Kent County Veterans Services Grants: Dental Care, Home Repairs and Cleaning
Kent County Veterans Services pays local programmes to serve the county's veterans: dental care at My Community Dental Centers, home repairs and medically necessary renovations…
Kent County Veterans Services and the Veterans Millage
Kent County Veterans Services files VA, State and county claims free, runs the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Fund and the county burial allowance, and issues a county veteran ID…
Kent County Veterans Treatment Court
The Kent County Veterans Treatment Court at the 62A District Court in Wyoming takes misdemeanour and felony cases from anywhere in Kent, Montcalm and Barry counties.
www.wyomingmi.gov/About-Wyoming/City-Departments/62A-District-Court/Veterans-Treatment-Court
Michigan benefits that apply here
Keeping the Michigan Disabled Veteran Exemption: Audits, Rescission and Clawback
The price of not reapplying each year is a mandatory local audit program, a duty to rescind within 45 days, and an assessor who can deny the current year plus the three before it…
Michigan Agent Orange Award Exclusion
No Michigan department or agency may count an Agent Orange judgment or settlement as income or resources when deciding assistance, services, or a charge based on income level.
Michigan Children of Veterans Tuition Grant
Up to $2,800 an academic year for the child of a Michigan veteran who died in service, died of a service-connected cause, or was rated totally and permanently disabled.
Michigan County Burial Allowance for a Veteran
A county pays $300 toward the burial of a wartime veteran or their spouse whose estate is under $40,000, with the homestead excluded from the count.
Michigan County Veterans Relief Fund
Every county must levy up to a tenth of a mill for the relief of indigent wartime veterans and their families, administered by a soldiers relief commission of three veterans…
Michigan Deduction for Military Pay and Military Retirement
Compensation for service in the armed forces, including military retired pay, is deducted from Michigan taxable income in full.
Michigan Deduction for a Discharged Student Loan
From the 2025 tax year, a disabled veteran deducts the cancelled debt reported on a 1099-C when the Department of Education discharges a student loan under the total and…
Gate: Permanently and totally disabled at the 100% rate; Permanence is part of the first route; Individually unemployable, with no permanence required
Michigan Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
The entire homestead comes off the tax roll, with no ceiling on value.
Gate: Permanently and totally disabled at the 100% rate; Permanence is part of the first route; Individually unemployable, with no permanence required
Michigan Disabled Veteran Registration Plate
Since April 2025 a veteran rated 50 percent or more can hold the DV plate, and a surviving spouse can keep it.
Gate: Fifty percent for the plate itself
Michigan Discharge Records at the County Clerk
A discharge recorded with the county clerk is confidential for 70 years, free to the veteran and to a service officer, and a certified copy is admissible as evidence of the…
Michigan Ex-Prisoner of War, Medal of Honor and Other Military Plates
Ex-POW, Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Pearl Harbor survivor, World War I, Gold Star and Blue Star plates.
Michigan Free Hunting and Fishing Licenses for a Disabled Veteran
A resident veteran rated permanently and totally disabled at the 100 percent rate, or individually unemployable, gets any resident hunting or fishing license free, except those…
Gate: Permanently and totally disabled at the 100% rate; Permanence is part of the first route; Individually unemployable, with no permanence required
Michigan High School Diploma for a Veteran Who Left School to Serve
A school district may award a diploma to a veteran of the Second World War, Korea or Vietnam who was enrolled in that district and left before graduating.
Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit for Veterans
An alternative credit computed from a taxable value allowance of $2,500 to $4,500 set by a table last updated in 1996.
Gate: Ten percent is enough, and the allowance rises in bands
Michigan Income Tax Exemption for a Disabled Veteran
An extra personal exemption, $500 for the 2025 tax year, for each taxpayer and each dependent who is a veteran with any service-connected disability.
Michigan Military Leave and Reemployment for Every Employer
State law that covers governor-ordered state active duty, which USERRA does not, reaches service in any state’s National Guard, and awards reinstatement and attorney fees in…
Michigan National Guard Child Care Assistance
A stipend for child care during drill and annual training, for a single parent or where both parents are Guard members.
Michigan National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program
Up to $14,400 toward an associate or bachelor degree and $6,000 toward a master degree, certificate or trade program, at any Michigan school.
Michigan National Guard TRICARE Premium Reimbursement
Created in December 2025, this reimburses a Michigan Guard member for premiums paid for individual TRICARE Reserve Select or TRICARE Dental cover, out of the new member benefit…
Michigan Paid Military Leave for Firefighters and Police Officers
From July 2026, a full-time firefighter or law enforcement officer in the reserve components gets at least 26 days of paid military leave a year at full pay.
Michigan Private Employer Veterans Preference
A private employer of any size may adopt a veterans preference for hiring, promotion or retention in a layoff.
Michigan Professional License Status During Military Service
A Michigan professional or occupational license held at the time of entering service stays in full force without any further action until discharge, and the act overrides…
Michigan Property Tax Exemption for a Surviving Spouse
The full exemption passes to an unremarried surviving spouse and, unusually, follows them to a house bought after the veteran died.
Michigan Protection Against Discrimination for Wearing the Uniform
A 1909 statute making it unlawful for a carrier, innkeeper or place of public amusement to refuse service to someone in uniform, with actual damages plus $100 and a prima facie…
Michigan Reemployment Rights for a Public Employee Who Served
A separate act for public employees: restoration to the old position, a year of protection against discharge without cause, employer pension contributions for the period away,…
Michigan Removal Protection for a Veteran in Public Employment
A veteran in a Michigan public job can be removed, suspended or transferred only on six enumerated grounds, after 15 days written notice and a hearing before a named official,…
Michigan Resident Status for Service Members Under the Game and Fish Laws
Anyone regularly enlisted or commissioned in the armed forces and officially stationed in Michigan is a resident for every game and fish law, with all the privileges a resident…
Michigan State Park Entry Without a Recreation Passport
Entry to state parks is free for a vehicle carrying a disabled veteran, ex-prisoner of war or Medal of Honor plate.
Gate: Fifty percent now reaches it through the plate
Michigan State Veterans Cemetery
Authorised in 2022, Michigan’s first state-run veterans cemetery is identified in statute only by a county population bracket of 12,500 to 13,500, and the department must apply…
Michigan Veteran Designation on a Driver License
A veteran of this state, another state, or the United States may ask for the designation.
Michigan Veteran Homes
Nursing and domiciliary care at Chesterfield Township, Grand Rapids and Marquette, run by a state authority.
Michigan Veteran License to Sell Goods
A county clerk must issue a resident veteran a free one-year license to sell their own goods for personal gain.
Michigan Veteran Resource Poster in Every Workplace
Since April 2025 every Michigan employer with one or more full-time employees must post a veterans resource notice listing nine specific items, including the crisis line.
Michigan Veterans Preference in Public Employment
A veteran shall be preferred for appointment and employment in every public department and on every public work of the state, its counties and its municipal corporations.
Michigan Veterans Treatment Courts
A circuit or district court may run a veterans treatment court for a veteran with 180 days of active duty whose offense is generally related to service.
Michigan Veterans Trust Fund Emergency Grants
A 1946 permanent fund whose earnings pay one-off grants for an unforeseen financial emergency, decided by a county committee of veterans, with an appeal to a state board whose…
Who Counts as a Veteran in Michigan
Section 35.61 is meant to be the uniform definition and is the widest in this catalog: no minimum service, reserve components included, and a discharge under conditions other…
79 federal benefits apply here as well and are left off this page; the place page lists them.