Delaware veteran benefits
- Verified veteran benefits
- 24
- each with its statute
- Counties covered
- 3
- every one has its own page
- Veterans in this state
- 0.06M
- Rating thresholds that matter
- 0
- each one opens something different
How to use this, in four steps
You are on step 1. Nothing is locked — browse everything first, then check the ones that look relevant.
See what you may be entitled to
Browse every verified benefit in your state. No questions, no account — everything is open.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one. We stop as soon as we know.
Get the letter that shows the finding
A VA Benefit Summary Letter configured to show service connection, the rating and permanence satisfies most offices without disclosing any diagnosis.
File before the deadline
File with the county assessment office by April 30, with the VA documentation.
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick one and we will narrow the list. You can change or clear it at any point.
Two things sharpen this a lot
Both optional. Your county decides where you file and what a property tax exemption is actually worth; your rating decides which thresholds you cross.
Where do you live?
We use this once to work out your county, because property tax is decided county by county. No benefit is ever matched on a ZIP code alone.
Your VA disability status
What does my rating actually unlock?
Read the record for the test that applies in Delaware — schedular 100%, permanent and total, and TDIU all qualify, but three years of residency gate everything.
29 benefits worth checking
What you appear to qualify for — worth checking.
One question checks 13 of them. You can skip it and keep browsing.
Did you serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2 more questions could resolve others. We ask them one at a time.
A State High School Diploma for Leaving School to Serve — Posthumous Awards Allowed
14 Del. C. §159 awards a state high school diploma to someone who left a Delaware high school before graduating to serve in the Second World War, Korea or Vietnam, was discharged under honorable conditions, and did not receive a diploma — or received a GED — as a consequence. Holding a GED does not disqualify you. Posthumous awards are authorised, so a family may apply for a veteran who has died.
VeteransApplies statewideA state high school diploma, awardable posthumously
Read it and check if you qualifyHalf Price on the State Parks Annual Pass
Delaware discounts the annual vehicle entrance pass for state parks by 50% for veterans. The 2026 full prices are $50 resident and $100 non-resident, so the discount is worth about $25 or $50 depending on which pass you buy. The exact discounted price per pass type is not published on the pages reviewed.
VeteransApplies statewide50% off the annual vehicle entrance pass
Read it and check if you qualifySchool Property Tax — Credited in Full
100% of the non-vocational school district property tax on the primary residence comes back — for schedular 100%, permanent and total, or TDIU — after three consecutive years of Delaware domicile.
VeteransApplies statewide100% of non-vocational school district property tax, credited
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Notary Service at the Office of Veterans Services
The Office of Veterans Services notarises documents free of charge for veterans, and for their dependents and families. It is a small thing that removes a recurring cost — most benefit claims, property filings and estate documents want a notary at some point.
VeteransApplies statewideDocuments notarised free of charge
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Service Plates — $10 Once, and Nothing Extra Every Year
Delaware issues a family of military service plates for a one-off $10 administrative fee, with no charge beyond the ordinary annual registration afterwards. The statutory plates cover former prisoners of war, those formerly missing in action, serving Guard and Reserve members, Purple Heart recipients, valor medal recipients, military retirees with 20 or more years, and Korean War veterans. The DMV offers further tags for honorably discharged veterans, Vietnam veterans, Pearl Harbor survivors and the Gulf-era operations. A surviving spouse may transfer the plate at no extra cost — but a Purple Heart plate must be RETURNED within 90 days on remarriage.
VeteransApplies statewide$10 once per plate, then nothing beyond ordinary annual registration
Read it and check if you qualifyCounty Property Tax Relief — Three Counties, Three Rules, and No Statewide Exemption
Delaware has no statewide county property tax exemption for disabled veterans. Each of the three counties adopted its own relief by ordinance, on its own test. Sussex and Kent give a credit keyed to the state Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit determination. New Castle exempts $37,000 of assessed value, plus up to $42,000 more by severity of disability, for a permanently service-connected disabled veteran with household income of $50,000 or less — and waives its three-year county residency requirement. Kent waives its durational residency requirement too.
VeteransApplies statewideWhatever your county has adopted — a credit in Sussex and Kent, an exemption of assessed value in New Castle
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Training Counts Toward a Licence — and a 6-Month Provisional One While You Wait
29 Del. C. §8735(p)(6) requires Delaware licensing boards to accept military training, education or experience that is substantially equivalent to their requirements. Separately, §8735(r) gives a non-renewable provisional licence of up to six months to a qualifying person — or their SPOUSE — who holds an active out-of-state licence in good standing, while an endorsement application is processed. The provisional route carries a condition of assignment to a Delaware duty station.
VeteransApplies statewideCredit for military training toward licensure, plus up to six months of provisional practice
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Pension Exclusion — $12,500 Now, $25,000 by 2029
A military pensioner excludes up to $12,500 regardless of age — the under-60 crowd would otherwise get only $2,000. A law signed 17 August 2026 raises the military figure to $15,000 for 2027, $20,000 for 2028 and $25,000 from 2029.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to $12,500 of military pension excluded (2026); $15,000 in 2027, $20,000 in 2028, $25,000 from 2029
Read it and check if you qualifyMerit Exam Points — 10 Disabled / 5 Veteran, Entrance Only
The merit system adds up to 10 points to the examination score of a disabled veteran and up to 5 for other veterans — including honorably discharged members with 20 years in the National Guard or an in-state reserve unit. The points apply at original entrance only, never promotion.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to 10 exam points with a service-connected disability; up to 5 otherwise
Read it and check if you qualifyTuition and Fees for the Children of the Fallen — Ages 16 to 24
A child of an armed forces member killed on active duty — or who died of duty-caused disease, wounds or disabilities — or of a POW or someone declared missing in action, receives tuition and fees for up to four years of study beyond high school. The window is tight: the student must be 16 to 24 and a three-year state resident.
VeteransApplies statewideTuition and fees per academic year, up to four years — capped at comparable in-state averages when studying private or out of state
Read it and check if you qualifyDAV Plate for $10 Once — Free Registration on the Federal Auto-Grant
A veteran whose service-connected disability is certified by the federal veterans affairs department takes the numbered DAV plate for a one-time $10 administrative fee, with no recurring plate charge on top of registration. Separately — and worth real money — a veteran eligible for the federal automobile or adaptive-equipment benefit registers one automobile exempt from registration fees entirely, plates furnished without cost.
VeteransApplies statewideDAV plate for a one-time $10; one automobile registered fee-exempt for veterans on the federal automobile or adaptive-equipment benefit
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans Home at Milford — 180 Days, One Year Resident, Gold Star Family
Admission needs 180 days of honorable active service or the Guard and Reserve equivalent, a year of residency before applying, and a medically determined need for long-term care. A Gold Star family member qualifies in their own right.
VeteransApplies statewideLong-term or short-term rehabilitative nursing care at the state home in Milford
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Veteran-Owned Business Certification — and No Set-Aside Behind It
The Office of Supplier Diversity certifies a Veteran Owned Business Enterprise and a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Enterprise at no cost, for three years. What it confers is visibility and standing, not a reserved share of contracts.
Veteran business ownersApplies statewideA free three-year certification, listed in the state supplier directory
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans Trust Fund — Emergency Money Paid Straight to the Vendor
A statutory fund for veterans in a documented financial emergency, covering rent or mortgage, utilities, childcare, medical bills, car payments and insurance. The statute sets the discharge floor at general under honorable conditions, and payment goes to the vendor rather than to you.
VeteransApplies statewideA one-off emergency payment toward rent or mortgage, utilities, childcare, medical, car payment or insurance
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans Memorial Cemetery — Free Plot, Three Ways to Meet Residency
Two state cemeteries, at Bear and Millsboro. No fee is charged for the plot or interment of an eligible veteran. Residency can be met at death, by three cumulative years, or by residence when entering the armed forces.
VeteransApplies statewideNo fee for the plot or interment of an eligible veteran
Read it and check if you qualifyGuard Tuition and Fees — But Only After Everything Else, and Against Six Years
An active member of a federally recognised Guard unit can have tuition and fees paid at the in-state resident rate at a state-supported institution, or at the state average at a private one here — after exhausting every other assistance, holding a 2.0 average, and promising six years of satisfactory service.
VeteransApplies statewideTuition and fees at the in-state resident rate, or the state average at a private institution here
Read it and check if you qualifyHunt, Trap and Fish Without a Licence at 60%
The statute lets an honorably discharged veteran certified at a service-connected disability of at least 60% hold a licence exemption to hunt, trap and fish here without charge. All three activities, one exemption, one threshold.
VeteransApplies statewideA no-charge licence exemption covering hunting, trapping and fishing
Read it and check if you qualifyOne Free Death Certificate for a Veteran’s Relative — and Nothing Else Is Free
The State Registrar must furnish the relative of a veteran, one time, a certified copy of the veteran’s death certificate free of charge. Ordinary copies run up to $25. Active military and their spouses are separately exempt from the $25 marriage certificate fee.
VeteransApplies statewideOne death certificate at no charge against a fee of up to $25 a copy
Read it and check if you qualifyState Active Duty Carries the Federal Job Protections — and a Court to Enforce Them
A Guard member ordered to STATE active duty gets the same employment rights, privileges and protections as a member called under the federal training law — and the statute puts the remedy in the Superior Court, with damages available.
VeteransApplies statewideFederal-equivalent employment protection for state active duty, enforceable in the Superior Court
Read it and check if you qualifyState Pension for a Veteran with Paraplegia — $3,000 a Year, Paid Monthly
A separate state pension of $3,000 a year, in equal monthly instalments, for a veteran with paraplegia and complete loss of leg control who the VA lists as totally disabled for that condition, where the condition came from wartime or UN-authorised service.
VeteransApplies statewide$3,000 a year, paid in equal monthly instalments
Read it and check if you qualifyEnding a Lease on Entering Active Duty — 30 Days, Counted From the First of Next Month
A tenant who enters active military service after signing the rental agreement may end the tenancy on 30 days’ written notice. The 30 days begin on the first day of the month after the day notice is actually given.
VeteransApplies statewide30 days’ written notice ends the tenancy
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Indigent Burial Payment Was Repealed in 2008 — What Remains Is the Free Plot
Title 20, chapter 9 once carried three sections on burial of indigent service members, the conditions for burial payments, and military funerals for remains returned from overseas. All three were repealed effective 30 June 2008.
VeteransApplies statewideNo state indigent-burial payment — repealed effective 30 June 2008
Read it and check if you qualifyA Veterans Court That Says It Takes Other-Than-Honorable
A voluntary court programme for people who have served, run with veteran mentors and with treatment recommendations from the federal health system and the state treatment access body. Its own page states that honorable and other-than-honorable discharges are both accepted, and that sex offenders are not.
VeteransApplies statewideA voluntary treatment docket that accepts other-than-honorable discharges
Read it and check if you qualifyThe No-Interest Farm Loan Closes at Forty, With No Veteran Exception
The state’s thirty-year, no-interest farmland loan is capped at applicants aged 18 to 40 on the day of application. The section was read in full and contains no veteran, military or active-duty exception. A long career in uniform can run the clock out.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitNo veteran route and no age extension — the door shuts at forty
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Office Is Becoming a Department — Independence Required by 2030
A 2025 act creates a cabinet-level veterans affairs department with a secretary who must be a veteran. Full independence from the department that currently houses veterans services is required by 1 July 2030, so the office a veteran deals with today is mid-transition.
VeteransApplies statewideA department being stood up — expect the contact route to move before 2030
Read it and check if you qualifyGold Star Family Plate — No Extra Fee, and It Passes to the Surviving Spouse
Anyone holding a Gold Star lapel button awarded by the Department of Defense in recognition of a close relative's death in service may register a private passenger vehicle, or a truck of three-quarter-ton capacity or less, on a GS-series plate reading "Gold Star Family". No fee is charged beyond the ordinary annual registration. If the holder dies, the surviving spouse may transfer the plate — and unlike the Purple Heart plate, nothing in the section takes it back on remarriage.
VeteransApplies statewideNo fee beyond the annual registration fee
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Parking Placard Is Free for Eight Years — and a Disabled Veteran Plate Does Not Get You One
The Division may not charge a fee to issue or reissue a disability parking placard, and a permanent permit runs eight years. What it will not do is take a VA rating as proof. The certification must come from a physician, physician associate or advanced practice nurse. The one veteran-specific route is §2138(d): apply for the disabled veteran plate and show separately that you meet the §2134 disability test, and the plate is then treated as a disability plate and carries the wheelchair symbol.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitPlacard free to issue and reissue; permanent permit valid 8 years
Read it and check if you qualifyNo Veteran or Purple Heart Toll Concession — the Only Discounts Are Frequency and Axles
The tolling operator publishes two discount plans and only two: a frequent-user plan giving 50% off once a transponder records 30 or more qualifying trips in a rolling 30-day period on SR-1 or U.S. 301, and a 15% commercial discount for vehicles of three or more axles on SR-1. Veteran status, a disabled veteran plate, a Purple Heart plate and a Medal of Honor plate appear nowhere in the discount schedule or the FAQ.
VeteransApplies statewideNo veteran toll discount — the published plans turn on trip count and axles
Read it and check if you qualifyGuard and Reserve Call-Up Stops the Disconnection — Power, Gas, Water, Sewer, Phone and Cable
Where household income falls because the customer of record or their spouse is a Guard or Reserve member called to active service by the President or the Governor during a declared national or state emergency of war, a service provider may not disconnect. The list of services is unusually wide: electricity, gas, water, sewer, telecommunications, cable and satellite television, and it binds municipalities as well as regulated companies. Protection lasts as long as the active duty status and 30 days beyond it.
VeteransApplies statewideNo disconnection during the call-up, plus 30 days
Read it and check if you qualify
Does my county change the answer?
For the statewide records, no — the same law applies in all 3 counties. What changes is the office you file with and the local tax arithmetic, which we do not yet hold for Delaware.
Every benefit here was checked against the statute or rule behind it, and each page shows the date. This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination — the responsible agency decides your application.