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Gold Star Family Plate — One Free Plate, and a Wider Family Than You Would Guess

One Gold Star Family plate is issued to an eligible family member with no issuance fee and no ad valorem taxes; any further plates are at the normal fees and taxes. Eligible family reaches well beyond the immediate household: a spouse, a parent including a step or foster parent standing in loco parentis, a sibling whole, half or adoptive, a child or stepchild, a grandparent or legal guardian, or the next of kin designated by the Department of Defense. The plate turns on the overseas death certificate or the Report of Casualty, and if the applicant is not named as next of kin on either, the veterans department will issue a notarised affidavit certifying the relationship instead.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

One Gold Star Family plate is issued to an eligible family member with no issuance fee and no ad valorem taxes; any further plates are at the normal fees and taxes. Eligible family reaches well beyond the immediate household: a spouse, a parent including a step or foster parent standing in loco parentis, a sibling whole, half or adoptive, a child or stepchild, a grandparent or legal guardian, or the next of kin designated by the Department of Defense. The plate turns on the overseas death certificate or the Report of Casualty, and if the applicant is not named as next of kin on either, the veterans department will issue a notarised affidavit certifying the relationship instead.

What it's worth: One plate free of the issuance fee and of ad valorem taxes

  • Ala. Code 32-6-630 and 40-12-271.1 issue one plate to an eligible family member without payment of the issuance fee and without ad valorem taxes. Subsequent plates are issued at the normal fees and taxes.
  • Eligible family member means a spouse; a parent, including a natural, adoptive, step or foster parent standing in loco parentis; a sibling, whole, half or adoptive; a child or stepchild; a grandparent or legal guardian; or the next of kin designated by the Department of Defense.
  • The revenue department rule states that one of three documents must be presented to the licensing official to receive the Gold Star Family distinctive licence plate.
  • The first is DD Form 2064, the overseas death certificate, or a prior-era Department of Defense death certificate.
  • The second is DD Form 1300, the Report of Casualty.
  • The third route exists where the applicant is not identified as the next of kin on either of those: the applicant must submit a notarised affidavit obtained from the state veterans department certifying the applicant's relationship to the deceased service member.
  • The rule requires recertification of eligibility on reissuance of a plate design, or every five years where a permanent plate is issued or the design does not change.
  • Military and veteran distinctive plates including the Gold Star Family plate must be used only on personally-owned private passenger vehicles registered in the applicant's own name — motorcycles, station wagons, pick-up trucks and motor homes count, provided gross vehicle weight does not exceed 12,000 pounds.
  • The plate is used in lieu of the standard plate for that vehicle, not in addition to it.
  • The department names Chapter 6 of Title 32 of the state code as the authority for the plate and the rule as the eligibility mechanics.

Who is entitled to it

  • The plate is issued to the family of the fallen service member.
  • Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Check whose name is on the casualty paperwork before you go anywhere. The whole design of this rule turns on whether you are the named next of kin.
  2. 2If you are not named, do not give up at the counter — go to a veterans service office for the notarised affidavit. The rule builds that route in deliberately for parents, siblings and children who never appear on the form.
  3. 3Register the vehicle in your own name first. The plate is only issued for a personally-owned private passenger vehicle in the applicant's name, and a car titled to someone else fails the test regardless of the family paperwork.
  4. 4Watch the weight limit if the vehicle is a truck or motor home. Above 12,000 pounds gross the plate is not available.
  5. 5Diary the five-year recertification. A permanent plate is not a permanent decision here — the rule allows the department to ask again every five years.
Form
Application at the licensing official, with the casualty document or the veterans department affidavit
File with
The judge of probate or licence plate issuing official in your county
Documents you will need
dd214
Periodic recertification
Confirmed at intervals rather than annually.
CorrectionThe affidavit route is the part that gets lost. Guides describe this plate as needing a Report of Casualty full stop, which quietly excludes every relative who is not the named next of kin — usually siblings and grandparents. The rule provides for exactly that case and sends them to a veterans service office instead.
Worth knowingThe rule is silent on remarriage for this plate, and silent on how many family members may hold one at once. That is a real gap and not an implied yes: the surviving-spouse-until-remarriage language elsewhere in the same rule applies to the valor plates, not to this one.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.