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Tuition Waived for a Deceased Veteran's Spouse and Children

The nonremarried spouse — at any age — and any child, stepchild or orphan under 26 of a deceased veteran pays no matriculation or tuition fees at any state-supported university, junior college or vocational training institute, for up to 45 months of study.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

The nonremarried spouse — at any age — and any child, stepchild or orphan under 26 of a deceased veteran pays no matriculation or tuition fees at any state-supported university, junior college or vocational training institute, for up to 45 months of study.

What it's worth: No matriculation or tuition fees at the state-supported institutions — up to 45 months

  • The statute waives matriculation and tuition fees; other charges of attendance follow the ordinary rules.

Who is entitled to it

  • The waiver reaches the surviving spouse and the children of the deceased veteran.
  • You are in Kentucky.
  • The remarriage condition does not stand in your way.
  • This condition only applies to a surviving spouse.
  • You have not remarried, so the benefit carries over to you.

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 the three service routes — any ONE carries the family: the veteran served during a national emergency, a war declared by Congress or a United Nations action; OR died while on active duty regardless of wartime service; OR died of a service-connected disability acquired on active duty, again regardless of wartime service.
  2. 2Check the Kentucky root: the veteran was a Kentucky resident at death, or was married to a Kentucky resident at death — and, if discharged, the discharge was under honorable conditions.
  3. 3Prove the relationship (birth certificate, adoption papers or marriage certificate; a stepchild must have been in the veteran's household at death) and the service and cause of death, certified from Department of Military Affairs, federal VA or Department of Defense records.
  4. 4The clock: 45 months toward a diploma, or the shorter period a certificate takes. A child ages out at 26; the nonremarried spouse never does.
  5. 5If you hold a cash scholarship, it is credited against your incidental expenses of attendance — the waiver still covers the tuition side.
Form
Tuition waiver application through the state veterans department
File with
Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, then the institution you attend
Documents you will need
dd214 · death certificate
Each term
Claimed per academic term.
CorrectionThis waiver is routinely summarized as being for families of veterans who "died in service or of service causes." The statute's first route is wider: wartime-era service alone qualifies the family — a veteran who served during a declared war or national emergency and later died of ANY cause leaves an eligible spouse and children, provided the Kentucky residency root and honorable-conditions tests hold.
Worth knowingA neighbouring section, KRS 164.505, runs a related waiver on its own terms; it was not readable this session and is not covered by this record. This record states 164.507 only.

Sources

Why only one source type: The statute states the whole benefit — routes, residency root, age and month limits, proof and the scholarship offset. The state veterans department's portal refuses automated readers, so its application-side page could not be added.

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