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DAV 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.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

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.

What it's worth: DAV plate for a one-time $10; one automobile registered fee-exempt for veterans on the federal automobile or adaptive-equipment benefit

  • The §2164 registration fee exemption is limited to one automobile at a time and does not remove the inspection requirement.

Who is entitled to it

  • The federal veterans affairs department certifies a service-connected disability.
  • You are a resident of 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. 1Apply at the Division of Motor Vehicles with certification of the service-connected disability. The DAV-series plate costs a one-time $10 administrative fee; no fee beyond the ordinary annual registration attaches to the plate itself (21 Del. C. §2138).
  2. 2If you qualified for the federal automobile or adaptive-equipment benefit (38 U.S.C. §1901 et seq. or Public Law 538 of the 93rd Congress), one automobile you own is registered EXEMPT from registration fees, with distinctive plates furnished without cost (21 Del. C. §2164).
  3. 3The fee-exempt vehicle still takes the ordinary safety inspection.
  4. 4On the death of the registered owner the surviving spouse may keep the DAV plate on a qualifying vehicle.
Form
DAV plate application with the federal certification
File with
Division of Motor Vehicles
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThe two sections are routinely conflated into "free plates for disabled veterans". They are not the same: §2138 is a cheap plate for any certified service-connected disability; the actual fee exemption in §2164 turns on the federal automobile/adaptive-equipment benefit — typically loss or loss of use of extremities or blindness — and covers one automobile.

Sources

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