What Benefits Can Spouses of Deceased Veterans Get?

Benefits for spouses of deceased veterans fall into six main categories: tax-free monthly compensation (DIC), a needs-based Survivors Pension, healthcare through CHAMPVA, education assistance, burial and memorial support, and a VA-backed home loan. What you qualify for depends on how the veteran died, whether they had a service-connected disability rating, your income in some cases, and whether you have remarried. Most of these benefits are applied for directly through the Department of Veterans Affairs, and several share a single application form.

Monthly Compensation Through DIC

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is a tax-free monthly payment for surviving spouses of veterans whose death was connected to military service. You may qualify if the veteran died on active duty, died from a service-connected injury or illness, or was totally disabled from a service-connected condition for a qualifying period before death.¹

That last category has specific timeframes. The veteran must have been rated totally disabled for at least 10 years before death, at least 5 years after leaving active duty, or at least 1 year if they were a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.²

Marriage Requirements

To qualify as a surviving spouse, at least one of these must be true: you were married to the veteran for at least one year, you had a child together, you married before January 1, 1957, or you married within 15 years of their discharge from active duty.²

Current Payment Amounts

For deaths on or after January 1, 1993, the base DIC rate for a surviving spouse is $1,699.36 per month, effective December 1, 2025.³ Several additions can stack on top of that base:

An extra $360.85 per month if the veteran was rated totally disabled for at least 8 consecutive years before death and you were married for those same 8 years.
An additional $421.00 per month for each dependent child under 18.
An extra $421.00 per month if you need help with daily activities (Aid and Attendance).
An additional $359.00 per month for 2 years if you have children under 18 at the time of the veteran’s death (the transitional benefit).

These amounts adjust annually with the cost-of-living adjustment.⁴

How To Apply

Use VA Form 21P-534EZ. It covers DIC, Survivors Pension, and accrued benefits in a single application. You’ll need the veteran’s death certificate, your marriage certificate, and the veteran’s service records. Submit online through VA.gov, by mail to a VA regional office, or in person.⁵

Survivors Pension for Low-Income Spouses

The Survivors Pension is a separate, needs-based monthly payment. It does not require a service-connected death, but it does require wartime service by the veteran and a low income on your part.⁶

The veteran must have served during a recognized wartime period, including World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War era, or the Gulf War (which began August 2, 1990, and has no set end date). Veterans who entered active duty on or before September 7, 1980, need at least 90 days of active service with at least 1 day during wartime. Those who entered after that date generally need at least 24 months of active service.⁶

Your combined net worth (everything you own except your home, car, and basic household furnishings, minus debts) cannot exceed $163,699 for eligibility through November 30, 2026.⁷ You also cannot have remarried after the veteran’s death.⁶

Your payment is the difference between your countable income and the Maximum Annual Pension Rate set by Congress. For a surviving spouse with no dependents, the MAPR is $11,699 per year. With one dependent child, $15,311. If you qualify for Aid and Attendance, the rate rises to $18,697 with no dependents or $22,304 with one child. Each additional child adds $2,984. Non-reimbursed medical expenses can reduce your countable income and increase your pension.⁷

Apply on the same VA Form 21P-534EZ used for DIC. Be prepared to report all income and assets in detail.

Accrued Benefits Owed to the Veteran

If the VA owed the veteran money at the time of death, whether from a pending claim, an approved increase, or withheld payments, that money can go to you as the surviving spouse. The VA pays it in full to the surviving spouse before anyone else in the line of succession.⁸

The deadline is short. You must file for accrued benefits within one year of the veteran’s death. For lump-sum accrued benefits (money withheld during hospitalization or institutional care), the deadline extends to five years. The application is the same Form 21P-534EZ, so filing one comprehensive claim early covers DIC, Survivors Pension, and accrued benefits together.⁸

Healthcare Through CHAMPVA

The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) is a healthcare cost-sharing program for surviving spouses and dependents who are not eligible for TRICARE. You may qualify if the veteran died from a service-connected disability, was rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition at the time of death, or died in the line of duty.⁹

CHAMPVA is not free care. After you meet the annual deductible of $50 per person or $100 per family, you pay 25% of the allowable amount and CHAMPVA pays the remaining 75%. Inpatient services have no deductible but still carry the 25% cost share. Once your out-of-pocket expenses hit $3,000 in a calendar year, CHAMPVA waives the cost share for the rest of the year.¹⁰

If you become eligible for Medicare (typically at age 65), you must enroll in both Medicare Part A and Part B to keep your CHAMPVA benefits. A Medicare Advantage plan (Part C) also satisfies this requirement. Medicare pays first, and CHAMPVA picks up most of the remaining costs.⁹

Apply using VA Form 10-10d, online through VA.gov or by mail to the CHAMPVA Eligibility office in Spring City, PA.¹¹ If your marriage ends in divorce or annulment, CHAMPVA eligibility ends on the date the divorce or annulment is finalized.¹²

Education Assistance

Two programs exist, and they differ in generosity and eligibility. Choosing the right one can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35)

DEA pays a flat monthly stipend of $1,574 for full-time enrollment at an institution of higher learning or a non-college degree program.¹³ You can use it for college, vocational training, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training, and you can receive DIC at the same time.

You qualify if the veteran died from a service-connected disability, was permanently and totally disabled, or died while on active duty. If the qualifying event happened on or after August 1, 2023, there is no time limit to use your benefits. For events before that date, spouses generally have 10 years from when the VA establishes eligibility, or 20 years if the service member died on active duty.¹⁴

Fry Scholarship (Chapter 33)

The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship is typically the more valuable option when you qualify. It covers full tuition and fees at public schools, or up to $29,920.95 per year at private institutions. You also receive a monthly housing allowance based on the military’s Basic Allowance for Housing rates for an E-5 with dependents, plus up to $1,000 per year for books and supplies. The benefit provides up to 36 months of coverage.¹⁵

Eligibility is narrower: the service member must have died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, or died from a service-connected disability within 120 days of discharge. You can continue receiving DIC while using the Fry Scholarship, and remarriage does not end eligibility.¹⁶

You apply for both programs using VA Form 22-5490. If you’re eligible for both, compare carefully. The Fry Scholarship usually pays substantially more, but DEA may cover training programs the Fry Scholarship does not.¹⁷

Burial and Memorial Support

Burial benefits often pay automatically. If you’re listed as the veteran’s spouse on their VA profile, the VA sends a set payment once it receives notice of death.¹⁸

The allowance depends on whether the death was service-connected. For a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, up to $2,000 for burial expenses, plus transportation costs if the veteran is buried in a VA national cemetery. For a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2025, up to $1,002 for burial expenses and $1,002 for plot or interment costs if the veteran is not buried in a national cemetery. These amounts cover burial, cremation, and burial at sea.¹⁸

The VA also provides burial in a national cemetery at no cost, a government headstone or marker, and a burial flag. Contact the National Cemetery Scheduling Office to arrange a national cemetery burial. Some states add supplemental payments.

If you need to file a claim (because you’re not already listed as the spouse on the veteran’s VA profile, or you’re not the spouse), use VA Form 21P-530EZ. Submit it online through VA.gov or mail it to the VA Pension Intake Center with the DD214, death certificate, and receipts for burial expenses.

VA-Backed Home Loan

Surviving spouses can qualify for a VA-backed home loan with no down payment, no private mortgage insurance, and competitively low interest rates. It’s a lifetime benefit you can use more than once.¹⁹

You may qualify if the veteran died while in service or from a service-connected disability. Generally, you must not have remarried. If you remarried on or after December 16, 2003, and were at least 57 years old at the time, you remain eligible. Surviving spouses of veterans who were totally disabled at the time of death may also qualify in certain circumstances.²⁰

Surviving spouses who receive DIC are exempt from the VA funding fee entirely, which can save thousands at closing. If you were incorrectly charged, the VA will refund the fee to you directly.²¹

Start with a Certificate of Eligibility using VA Form 26-1880. Submit it online, have your lender pull it through the VA’s electronic system (often instant), or mail it to your regional loan center.²²

How Remarriage Changes Your Benefits

Remarriage is the most common way surviving spouses unintentionally lose benefits. Each program has its own rule, and the age thresholds are not the same.

DIC: you keep it if you remarried at age 55 or older on or after January 5, 2021, or at age 57 or older on or after December 16, 2003.¹
Survivors Pension: any remarriage after the veteran’s death ends eligibility, regardless of your age.
CHAMPVA: remarriage before age 55 ends coverage on the date of the marriage. Remarriage at 55 or older lets you keep it. If a marriage that ended coverage later dissolves through divorce or annulment, you may re-qualify starting the first day of the month after the marriage ends.
VA home loan: remarriage generally ends eligibility, unless you remarried at age 57 or older on or after December 16, 2003.
Fry Scholarship: remarriage does not affect eligibility.

DIC and CHAMPVA use 55. The home loan uses 57. Mixing them up is easy and expensive.

If the VA Denies Your Claim

You have three options to challenge a decision:²³

Supplemental Claim: file this if you have new evidence the VA did not consider. A reviewer decides whether it changes the outcome.
Higher-Level Review: request this if you believe the VA made an error based on the evidence already in the file. A senior reviewer takes a fresh look. No new evidence is allowed, but you can request an informal conference to point out specific errors.
Board Appeal: a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals reviews your case. You can choose a direct review, submit additional evidence, or request a hearing.

If you have a document the VA overlooked, a Supplemental Claim is usually fastest. If the evidence was all there and the decision was simply wrong, a Higher-Level Review avoids gathering new paperwork. Board Appeals take the longest but give the most thorough review, which matters most when eligibility questions are complex.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA DIC for Spouses, Dependents, and Parents
2
Veterans Benefits Administration. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Current DIC Rates for Spouses and Dependents
4
Federal Register. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustments
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Veterans Benefits Administration. Applying for Benefits
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Survivors Pension
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Current Survivors Pension Benefit Rates
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Accrued Benefits
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA Benefits
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA Guidebook
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Apply for CHAMPVA Benefits
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA Guidebook
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Chapter 35 Rates for Survivors and Dependents
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Fry Scholarship Rates
16
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Fry Scholarship
17
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 22-5490
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits
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Veterans Benefits Administration. VA Home Loans
20
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Home Loans for Surviving Spouses
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Veterans Benefits Administration. VA Funding Fee Exemption and Refund Procedures for Lenders
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. How To Request a VA Home Loan Certificate of Eligibility
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Choosing a Decision Review Option