Massachusetts

Every public institution must have a written policy for evaluating military training for academic credit and a single named point of contact. And no student at any Massachusetts institution, public or private, may be penalised for being called to active duty.

A veteran under clause Forty-third for the credit evaluation and point of contact. Section 42 names the clause Forty-third definition: 90 days of active service including a day of wartime service, or 180 days without it, excluding active duty for training.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to charge a veteran for preparing or advising on a VA claim except as federal law permits, to charge for a referral, or to guarantee an outcome. A breach is also a consumer protection violation.

It protects any person with a VA or Department of Defense claim. The definition of veterans benefits matter reaches veterans, dependents, survivors and any other individual eligible for such benefits, and covers a person who has only expressed an intent to file.

The state must contact every Guard member and known veteran who may be eligible for the federal burn pit registry, keep a confidential exposure database, and run a women veterans’ network with a paid coordinator.

The outreach duty covers named deployments and theatres. Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom or New Dawn; Djibouti on or after September 11, 2001; Afghanistan on or after September 11, 2001; Desert Shield or Desert Storm; or the Southwest Asia theater on or after August 2, 1990.

A needs-based cash and medical benefit paid by the city or town where the veteran lives, reimbursed 75 per cent by the commonwealth. One day of residence qualifies, and there is no rating test at all.

• Maximum assets, a single recipient: $8,400 (read 2026-10-14)
• Maximum assets, a recipient and dependents: $16,600 (read 2026-10-14)
• Income above which only medical benefits are paid, 108 CMR 5.02(13): 200% of the current federal poverty level, with a spend-down above it (read 2026-10-14)

Only so much as is necessary for sufficient relief or support. Section 5 bars payment to any person able to support themselves or in receipt of income from any source sufficient for their support, and allows a supplement where income is insufficient. Amounts are set by the Executive Office of Veterans Services in 108 CMR rather than by statute.

Not points. Disabled veterans go at the top of the eligible list, then veterans, then the spouse or single parent of a servicemember killed in action, then everyone else. Some decorations get an appointment with no examination at all.

Ten per cent based on wartime service for the top tier. Section 1 defines disabled veteran as having a continuing service-incurred disability of not less than ten per cent based on wartime service with VA compensation, or a permanent physical disability carrying a branch retirement allowance, or a statutory award. A veteran without that is still in the second tier, so this entry does not disappear below the number.

Every Massachusetts employer with more than 50 full-time employees must post a veterans’ benefits notice and hand it to every employee at hire and once a year. It is aimed at veterans who do not know they are veterans.

The duty falls on employers with more than 50 full-time employees. Section 2E(c). Smaller employers have no obligation, though the notice is available from the Executive Office of Veterans Services to anyone who asks.

No registration fee for any vehicle owned by a veteran at 100 per cent or rated individually unemployable, and no fee for that veteran’s driver’s licence either. The HERO Act rewrote the paragraph in 2024.

A combined service-connected rating of 100 per cent. Paragraph (29) of G.L. c. 90, s. 33 as replaced by the 2024 HERO Act.

The entire taxable valuation of the home is exempt for the surviving spouse of a service-connected death or a missing-in-action presumption, and for the surviving parents or guardians in a town that has accepted the clause.

A death proximately caused by an injury or illness suffered on active duty. Clauses Twenty-second D and H. The condition must be documented by VA or a branch of the armed forces and must be a proximate cause of death. It need not have been rated and the death need not have occurred in service.

A dependent parent who takes chapter 115 benefits gives the town a lien on any real estate interest worth over $1,500. It is not enforced until both parents die, and it does not apply to the parent of someone killed in action.

Only a dependent parent, and only above $1,500 of value. Section 5A reaches an applicant or recipient who is a dependent parent as defined in section 1 with a real estate interest whose fair market value exceeds $1,500. Veterans and surviving spouses are outside it.

A town may double the veteran abatements, index them to inflation, extend them to property held in trust, and run a work-off programme worth up to $1,500 a year. None of it applies unless the town has voted for it.

None of it applies unless the city or town has accepted it. Clauses Twenty-second G, I and J and section 5N each take effect only on local acceptance. Ask the assessors which are in force before relying on any of them.

Military retired pay is deducted from Massachusetts gross income whether or not the retiree contributed, and so are Survivor Benefit Plan annuities. Both are named in the statute rather than left to inference.

Any retired member of the uniformed services. No rating, no age and no election. The uniformed services are those defined in 10 U.S.C. 1072, which includes the NOAA and Public Health Service commissioned corps as well as the six armed services.

One vehicle is free of the annual motor vehicle excise for a veteran at 100 per cent or rated individually unemployable, or with specified losses of limb or sight. Unemployability is named here and nowhere in the property tax clauses.

A combined service-connected rating of 100 per cent. Section 1 of chapter 60A names a combined service-connected disability rating of 100 per cent as determined by VA. The loss-of-limb and loss-of-sight routes need no rating at all, so this entry does not disappear below the number.

The town must bury a veteran who dies without sufficient means, and may not do it in a pauper cemetery. Every city and town must appoint a graves officer who keeps every veteran grave in the municipality and flags it each Memorial Day.

Burial at municipal expense requires insufficient means. Section 7 covers a veteran or adult dependent who dies without sufficient means to defray funeral expenses, and a dependent child where the veteran and spouse are without such means. Resources of the deceased are deducted from the maximum under section 8.

The one Massachusetts education waiver the statute makes mandatory and the commonwealth pays for. It covers fees as well as tuition, which in Massachusetts public higher education is the larger half of the bill.

A member of the Massachusetts National Guard. Section 19 names the Massachusetts National Guard specifically. A Massachusetts resident in another state’s Guard or in a federal reserve component is outside it.

A veteran rated 100 per cent gets a $1,000 abatement and has to recertify every year. A paraplegic or blind veteran gets the entire domicile exempted and never recertifies. The gap between the two clauses is the sharpest in this file.

A disability rating of one hundred per cent. Clause Twenty-second E is the rating clause. The clause says one hundred per cent as determined by the Veterans Administration and stops. It does not name individual unemployability, which the motor vehicle excise exemption in G.L. c. 60A, s. 1 does.

Veterans are one of the categories the Board of Higher Education must cover in the state tuition waiver programme, but the statute sets no amount and no eligibility rules. Those live in council guidelines, which is where a reader has to go.

Veterans are a category the council may designate, not a statutory entitlement. Section 19 requires the guidelines to provide waivers for categories designated by the council, which may include veterans. The terms are set administratively and can change without legislation.

Chelsea and Holyoke, admitting on the broad chapter 115 definition of veteran but behind the strictest residency bar in this catalog: five continuous years, with the burden of proof on the veteran. Rebuilt in governance terms after 2022.

A veteran under the broad chapter 115 definition. Section 1 of chapter 115A points at section 1 of chapter 115, not at clause Forty-third. No wartime service is required, and a Guard member or reservist with a service-connected disability qualifies.

A $400 abatement at a ten per cent rating or for a Purple Heart, rising to $750 and $1,250 for specific losses of limb or sight. These are dollars off the tax bill, not a share of the valuation, and they are small.

Ten per cent for the base $400 abatement. Clause Twenty-second (a). The rating may come from VA or from any branch of the armed forces, which reaches a medical retiree who never filed a VA claim. A Purple Heart reaches the same clause with no rating at all.

The plain VETERAN plate costs an extra $20 a year. The decoration plates, from the Purple Heart to the Medal of Liberty, are free, and a surviving spouse may keep or newly apply for a VETERAN plate until remarriage.

A veteran under clause Forty-third for the plain VETERAN plate. Ninety days including a day of wartime service, or 180 days without it, and a last discharge under other than dishonorable conditions. There is an annual $20 fee on top of the registration fee.

A veteran discharged other than honorably because of who they are can have Massachusetts benefits restored without waiting for the federal record to be corrected. Nothing like it exists in any other state in this catalog.

An other than honorable discharge based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Including under 10 U.S.C. 654, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, or any other policy. The board decides whether that was more likely than not the primary basis for the characterisation.

A $2,500 credit per qualified veteran hired, for a small Massachusetts employer certified by the Secretary of Veterans’ Services. It is the employer who claims it, and knowing it exists is worth something to a job seeker.

A qualified veteran under section 51(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit definition, built around unemployment duration, receipt of assistance and service-connected disability. It has nothing to do with the Massachusetts definitions of veteran.

Every city must appoint a certified veterans’ agent, the agent records a discharge free of charge, what a veteran tells the agent is privileged, and a veteran who wins an appeal keeps the money even if the town wins on further appeal.

Every city has a veterans’ agent; towns may share one. Section 3. Two or more contiguous towns may appoint a single agent, and sections 10 to 15 provide for veterans’ services districts.

A $2,500 annual payment on August 1 for a blind or paraplegic veteran, one who lost both legs or is 100 per cent disabled from enemy action or a service-connected accident, and for the parents and surviving spouse of a war or combat death.

Statutory blindness at 5/200 or with a twenty degree field. Section 6B uses central visual acuity of 5/200 or less in the better eye with corrective glasses, which is stricter than the 20/200 standard the motor vehicle excise exemption uses.

Two state cemeteries, at Agawam and Winchendon, operated by the Executive Office of Veterans Services with authority to add more. The statute is short and leaves eligibility and cost to regulation.

Eligibility is set by regulation, not by statute. Section 9A creates and directs the cemeteries and leaves eligibility, proof, residency and cost to rules the Executive Office of Veterans Services may adopt. Get the current terms from the office.

A $1,000 bonus for service in the Iraq or Afghanistan area and $500 for six months elsewhere, paid by the State Treasurer out of the treasury without appropriation. The statute names three operations and no later ones.

Active service as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom or Noble Eagle. Those three operations are named in section 16 and no later operation has been added. Active duty for training in the National Guard or as a reservist does not count.

Massachusetts has two general definitions of veteran and they disagree. The 2024 HERO Act made chapter 115 generous and left the old ninety-day wartime test running the property tax, the civil service preference and the excise exemption.

Chapter 115 and the soldiers’ homes use the broad definition. Ninety days of active duty with a discharge other than dishonorable, or a service-connected disability or death including on active duty solely for training, or simply being determined a veteran by VA.

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.