Essex County Clerk Veterans Peddler License and Gold Star Parent ID
The County Clerk issues a special Veterans Peddlers License free of charge to resident veterans on a DD-214 ($10 for the required photos, by appointment) and a Gold Star Parent…
VetTOC · Veteran benefits reference
Essex County, New Jersey
Free help with a VA claim
- Essex County Veterans Services (Division of Community Action). The county’s veterans service operation sits in the Division of Community Action at 50 South Clinton Street, 3rd Floor, East Orange - Director Terrence McCoy, (973) 395-8350, with Consumer Advocate Melvin Williams - and Luis Salgado was nominated to the county’s Veteran’s Advisory Board by Advice and Consent in November 2025. essexcountynj.org/county-directory
- New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs, Service Officers and the Veteran Advocate. Since January 9, 2026 New Jersey has a separate cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs, split from the old Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. Its service officers help with VA claims at no charge in every county, and a new independent Veteran Advocate investigates complaints about the department's own homes and services. pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/PL25/139_.HTM
- New Jersey Limits on Paid Help With VA Claims. New Jersey makes it a consumer fraud violation to charge for help with a VA claim except as federal law allows, to charge anything before a notice of disagreement is filed, to charge a referral fee, or to guarantee a rating. Paid advisers must tell you in writing and aloud that free help exists. lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/54204/54690
Find a VA-accredited representative: www.va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative/find-rep
Essex County benefits
Essex County Veterans Diversion Program
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office runs a Veterans Diversion Program established by N.J.S.A.
New Jersey benefits that apply here
Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Free burial, grave liner, marker and perpetual care for eligible veterans at New Jersey's state veterans cemetery in Arneytown, North Hanover Township, with eligibility following…
NJ Transit Half Fare for Disabled Veterans
Half fare on NJ Transit buses and trains at all times for a disabled veteran, except on peak commuter trains excluded from excursion fares.
Gate: A compensable service-connected disability from war service
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/25092/25163
New Jersey $250 Veterans Property Tax Deduction
A $250 deduction from the property tax bill each year for an honorably discharged veteran with active service in any era who owns property and is domiciled in New Jersey, and for…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/51481/51860
New Jersey $6,000 Veteran Income Tax Exemption
A $6,000 personal exemption on the New Jersey income tax return for an honorably discharged veteran, and another $6,000 for a spouse on a joint return who is also a veteran.
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/53569/53581
New Jersey 100 Percent Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
A full exemption from property tax on the home of a veteran whom VA has found totally and permanently disabled from service, by schedule or through unemployability, or who has…
Gate: 100 percent schedular rating; Permanent and total; Or paid at 100 percent through individual unemployability; Permanent and total, on the unemployability route too
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/51481/51756
New Jersey Blind, Paraplegic and Hemiplegic Veterans Allowance
The state pays $1,800 a year, in monthly payments of $150, for life to a wartime veteran who entered service from New Jersey and is totally blind, paraplegic, hemiplegic or a…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32256/32276
New Jersey Civil Service Absolute Veterans Preference
In New Jersey civil service, every disabled veteran who passes an open competitive exam is ranked above every veteran, and every veteran above every non-veteran, regardless of…
Gate: Disabled veterans preference with compensable service-connected disability from war service
New Jersey College Rights for Veterans and Service Members
New Jersey public colleges must give veterans and service members priority course registration, readmit a student who left for military service with the same academic standing…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/15935/18794
New Jersey Disabled Veteran Business Set-Aside and Veteran Peddler Licence
State agencies aim to award at least 3 percent of contracts to New Jersey businesses at least 51 percent owned by veterans with any service-connected disability, and a resident…
Gate: Any service-connected rating for the set-aside
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/46832/51004
New Jersey Disabled Veteran Plates, Free Registration and Parking
A $15 Disabled Vet plate for any veteran with a service-connected disability, free municipal meter parking for 24 hours with that plate or a placard, disability parking for a…
Gate: Any service-connected rating for the Disabled Vet plate and the meter exemption; Permanently 100 percent disabled for disability parking without a physician
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32680/32952
New Jersey Free Hunting and Fishing Licences for Disabled Veterans and Guard Members
Free hunting, fishing and trapping licences, permits, stamps and tags for a New Jersey resident with any service-connected disability who was honorably discharged, and for an…
Gate: Any service-connected rating, including 0 percent
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/21638/21724
New Jersey Free Tuition for Children of POWs and MIAs
Free undergraduate tuition at any New Jersey public or private college for a child of a service member from New Jersey declared a prisoner of war or missing in action after…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32397/32646
New Jersey Military Retired Pay and Survivor Benefit Exclusion
Military retired pay and military survivor benefit payments are fully excluded from New Jersey income tax at any age, with no dollar limit.
Gate: Student loan discharge exclusion at 100 percent or through unemployability
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/53569/53674
New Jersey National Guard Tuition Waiver
Up to 16 credits a semester tuition-free at a New Jersey public college or university, undergraduate or graduate, for an active New Jersey Guard member in good standing who has…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/15935/18814
New Jersey Operation Recognition High School Diploma
A state-endorsed high school diploma, including after death, for an honorably discharged veteran of World War I, World War II, Korea or Vietnam who left a New Jersey high school…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/15935/16521
New Jersey Professional Licences for Military Spouses and Veterans
Every New Jersey licensing board must license a military spouse transferred here by endorsement or with a one-year temporary courtesy licence, teachers get a 180-day temporary…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/41981/42015
New Jersey Property Tax Deferment for Deployed Service Members
A resident deployed in time of war, or a Guard or reserve member mobilized for federal active duty, can defer property tax bills that fall due during the deployment until 90 days…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/51481/51873
New Jersey Protection Against Discrimination for Veterans and Service Members
Since January 2026 the Law Against Discrimination protects a person's service in the Armed Forces, not only liability for future service, in employment, housing, public…
New Jersey State Parks: Guard, Gold Star and Disabled Veteran Beach Permits
Free admission to state parks and forests for active New Jersey Guard members and Gold Star families, free entry for veterans at a veterans' organization event, and a free beach…
Gate: Free beach driving permit at any service-connected rating
New Jersey State Service Medals
Seven state medals for New Jersey veterans, among them the Distinguished Service Medal for combat theater service, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32397/32573
New Jersey Veteran and Gold Star Family Designation on Driver Licences
The Motor Vehicle Commission prints a veteran designation on a driver licence or ID for a resident discharged honorably or under general honorable conditions from the Armed…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32680/32809
New Jersey Veterans Diversion Program
A statewide program that lets police and prosecutors send a veteran or service member with a mental illness who is charged with a non-violent lower-level offense to treatment…
New Jersey Veterans Haven Transitional Housing
Two state-run transitional housing programs for homeless veterans, Veterans Haven North in Glen Gardner and Veterans Haven South in Winslow Township, with counseling, addiction…
New Jersey Veterans Memorial Homes at Paramus, Menlo Park and Vineland
Three state nursing homes for veterans of any era with 90 days of service, their spouses, surviving spouses and Gold Star parents, with preference for two years of New Jersey…
Gate: At 70 percent or more VA pays the full rate
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32397/32655
New Jersey Veterans Retirement in the Public Employees' Retirement System
A veteran in the Public Employees' Retirement System or the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund can retire at 55 with 25 years, or at 60 with 20, on 54.5 percent of the best 12…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/39952/40754
New Jersey Veterans and Military Spouses Asset Protection Act
Since January 2026 the primary home and one second home of a veteran, service member or military spouse are exempt from creditors without any value limit, along with retirement…
New Jersey Vietnam-Era Tuition Programs (Closed to New Applicants)
Two Vietnam-era programs, the Veterans Tuition Credit Program and Vietnam veterans tuition assistance, are still in the statutes and still advertised, but their application…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32397/32647
New Jersey War Orphans Education Grant
Up to $500 a year for four years toward school or college for a New Jersey child aged 16 to 21 whose resident parent died in wartime service, died later of a disability from that…
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/32256/32284
New Jersey Wounded Warrior Caregivers Credit
A refundable income tax credit of up to $675 a year for a New Jersey relative who cares for a post-9/11 veteran who meets VA's standard for individual unemployability and lives…
Gate: The veteran meets VA's standard for individual unemployability
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/53569/53619
Who Counts as a Veteran in New Jersey
New Jersey has no single definition. Property tax relief and the income tax exemption need an honorable discharge from active service in any era.
lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/51481/51859
79 federal benefits apply here as well and are left off this page; the place page lists them.