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A Homestead Exemption for the Surviving Spouse of a Member Killed in War

O.C.G.A. 48-5-52.1 exempts $121,812 for 2025 — a $60,000 base plus an index-adjusted addition — from ALL county, municipal and school property taxes, for the unremarried surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces killed in, or who died as a result of, war or armed conflict. No disability rating is involved anywhere in it.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

O.C.G.A. 48-5-52.1 exempts $121,812 for 2025 — a $60,000 base plus an index-adjusted addition — from ALL county, municipal and school property taxes, for the unremarried surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces killed in, or who died as a result of, war or armed conflict. No disability rating is involved anywhere in it.

What it's worth: $121,812 for 2025, exempt from county, municipal AND school taxes

  • The 2025 figure is $121,812: a $60,000 base plus an index-adjusted additional sum, tracking the same federal index as the disabled veteran exemption.
  • It is exempt from ALL county, municipal AND school purpose taxes. School taxes are usually the largest line, and most exemptions do not touch them.
  • The qualifying event is the member being killed in, or dying as a result of, war or armed conflict. No disability rating is involved at any point.
  • The spouse must be unremarried.
  • The amount is indexed, so it moves each year — check the current figure with the county tax commissioner.
  • This is a different statute from the exemption a spouse inherits from a disabled veteran. A spouse whose member was killed in action has no rating to inherit and needs this one.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the surviving spouse.
  • You have not remarried.
  • The member was killed in, or died as a result of, war or armed conflict.
  • You own and live in the home as your principal residence.
  • Your property is in Georgia.

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 to your county tax commissioner citing O.C.G.A. 48-5-52.1 by section — it is a different exemption from the disabled veteran one and asking generally may get you the wrong form.
  2. 2Take documentation of the death in, or resulting from, war or armed conflict.
  3. 3There is no rating to produce. If you are asked for one, this is the wrong exemption being applied to you.
  4. 4Ask for the CURRENT year's figure. The amount is indexed and $121,812 is the 2025 number.
  5. 5Confirm it is being applied against school taxes as well as county and municipal — that is where most of the value is.
Form
Homestead exemption application to the county tax commissioner
File with
Your county tax commissioner
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.

Sources

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