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Gold Star Plates Free — Including Personalised Ones, and Siblings Are Inside

The commissioner issues GOLD STAR plates free of charge to a surviving spouse, parent or legal guardian, child, or sibling of a person who died while serving honorably in active service — and replaces them free if they are damaged. If the family member wants personalised Gold Star plates, the commissioner is forbidden to charge the ordinary personalised-plate fees. Moving the plates to another vehicle costs $5.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The commissioner issues GOLD STAR plates free of charge to a surviving spouse, parent or legal guardian, child, or sibling of a person who died while serving honorably in active service — and replaces them free if they are damaged. If the family member wants personalised Gold Star plates, the commissioner is forbidden to charge the ordinary personalised-plate fees. Moving the plates to another vehicle costs $5.

What it's worth: Plates free of charge, damaged plates replaced free, personalisation fees waived; $5 to transfer to another vehicle

  • The section waives the plate charge and the personalisation fees. Ordinary registration and licensing obligations are a separate matter and subdivision 2 requires compliance with them.
  • The $5 transfer fee is the one charge the section imposes, on moving the plates to another vehicle owned or jointly owned by the eligible person.

Who is entitled to it

  • The plate goes to the family of a person who died in active service.
  • You are in 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. 1Check the relationship list, which is wider than most: a surviving spouse, a parent or legal guardian, a child, or a sibling. Subdivision 1(c) adds that the relationship may be established by birth OR adoption.
  2. 2The death must have been while serving honorably in active service, with "active service" carrying the meaning given in Minn. Stat. 190.05, subd. 5.
  3. 3You must be an owner or joint owner of the motor vehicle — joint ownership is enough, which matters in a household where the car is in two names.
  4. 4The vehicle must be for personal and non-commercial use. The section names a passenger automobile, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, pickup truck or van.
  5. 5Ask for the motorcycle single plate if that is what you ride — subdivision 3 provides for a set of plates or a single plate for a motorcycle, both free.
  6. 6Ask for personalised plates if you want them. Subdivision 3 forbids the commissioner from charging the personalised-plate fees in Minn. Stat. 168.12, subd. 2a — which is a real saving, because those fees are what personalisation normally costs.
  7. 7If a plate is damaged, ask for a free replacement rather than paying — the section requires replacement without charge for damage.
  8. 8Budget $5 and notify the commissioner if you move the plates to another vehicle you own or jointly own.
Form
Special plate application to Driver and Vehicle Services
File with
Driver and Vehicle Services, Department of Public Safety
Documents you will need
dd214
Annual
Claimed once a year.
Worth knowingThe personalisation waiver is the part nobody claims. Subdivision 3 does not merely allow a personalised Gold Star plate — it forbids the commissioner from charging the ordinary fees for one.
Worth knowingThe section says nothing about remarriage. Eligibility is defined by relationship to the person who died and by ownership of the vehicle, with no clause ending it on a later marriage.
Worth knowingThis finder asks how you are related to the person who served and offers surviving spouse or dependant. A bereaved parent, legal guardian or sibling is squarely inside subdivision 1(c) without being inside that list, and should apply on the statute.
Worth knowingThe production cost is met from the "Support Our Troops" account under Minn. Stat. 190.19, subd. 2a — the same fund that the Support Our Troops plate feeds. The plates are free to the family because another plate pays for them.

Sources

Why only one source type: The section is self-executing on its face — it names who is eligible, what is issued, what is free and what the one charge is — and Driver and Vehicle Services publishes only an application form for it rather than a separate policy page. No second instrument governs the plate.

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