Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Florida benefits
vehiclesstate

Gold Star Plate — Free for Three Vehicles for a Surviving Spouse or Parent, Paid for Everyone Else

The Gold Star licence plate is issued to family members of a servicemember killed while serving. The surviving spouse and a surviving parent each get it free of charge for up to three vehicles per household, with renewal decals at no cost. Every other qualifying relative — grandparent, child, stepchild, sibling, half sibling, foster parent, stepparent — pays the full licence tax and fees. The section carries no remarriage condition at all.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The Gold Star licence plate is issued to family members of a servicemember killed while serving. The surviving spouse and a surviving parent each get it free of charge for up to three vehicles per household, with renewal decals at no cost. Every other qualifying relative — grandparent, child, stepchild, sibling, half sibling, foster parent, stepparent — pays the full licence tax and fees. The section carries no remarriage condition at all.

What it's worth: Free for up to three vehicles per household for a surviving spouse or surviving parent, renewals included

  • The free issuance in paragraph (3)(b) reaches the surviving spouse and a surviving parent only. Every other relative in the paragraph (4)(a)2. list applies under paragraph (3)(a) and pays the licence tax and appropriate fees.
  • Renewal decals for a plate issued free under paragraph (3)(b) are issued at no cost, so the saving repeats every year rather than once.
  • Three vehicles per household is the cap on the free route — and it is a household cap, not a per-person cap, so a surviving spouse and a surviving parent in the same household share it.
  • Eligible vehicles are an automobile or truck for private use, a truck weighing not more than 7,999 pounds, or a recreational vehicle specified in §320.08(9)(c) or (d), not used for hire or commercial use.

Who is entitled to it

  • The plate runs to family members of a servicemember killed while serving.
  • You are a resident of this state.
  • Your home is in Florida.

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. 1Take two things, not one. Paragraph (4)(b) requires documentation of the fact that the servicemember was killed while serving AND proof of your relationship to them.
  2. 2Ask about the waiver of documentation if the office already knows the family. Paragraph (4)(b) lets the tax collector or licence plate agent waive the documentation and proof requirement where he or she has actual knowledge of the family relationship and that the servicemember was killed while serving. In a small county that is a real saving of time.
  3. 3Say which paragraph you are applying under. Surviving spouse and surviving parent applications go under paragraph (3)(b) and are free for up to three vehicles per household; everyone else goes under paragraph (3)(a) and pays. An office that processes you under the wrong paragraph will charge you.
  4. 4Do not wait for a renewal date. Subsection (5) lets an eligible family member request the plate at any time during their registration period, and where it replaces a current valid plate it is issued with the appropriate renewal decals already attached.
  5. 5The relationship list is wider than most people assume. It reaches spouse, legal mother or father, stepparent, parent through adoption, foster parent, grandparent, child, stepchild, adopted child, brother, sister, half brother and half sister.
  6. 6Proof of the death can come from the federal side. Paragraph (4)(a)3. accepts documentation directly from the Department of Defense or from a subordinate agency such as the Coast Guard, Reserve or National Guard.
Form
Application to the tax collector or licence plate agent with proof attached
File with
County tax collector or licence plate agent
Documents you will need
death certificate · dd214
Applies at each renewal
Worth knowingThe section carries no remarriage clause. That is unusual enough to be worth stating plainly: a surviving spouse who remarries is not required by §320.0894 to surrender the plate or to start paying for it.
CorrectionThe free allowance was one vehicle per household in the earlier versions of this section and is now up to three. Guides written from an older text understate it by two vehicles a year, every year.

Sources

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