Montana veteran benefits
- Verified veteran benefits
- 26
- each with its statute
- Counties covered
- 56
- every one has its own page
- Veterans in this state
- 0.09M
- Rating thresholds that matter
- 0
- each one opens something different
How to use this, in four steps
You are on step 1. Nothing is locked — browse everything first, then check the ones that look relevant.
See what you may be entitled to
Browse every verified benefit in your state. No questions, no account — everything is open.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one. We stop as soon as we know.
Get the letter that shows the finding
A VA Benefit Summary Letter configured to show service connection, the rating and permanence satisfies most offices without disclosing any diagnosis.
File before the deadline
File Form MDV with the local Department of Revenue field office by April 15.
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick one and we will narrow the list. You can change or clear it at any point.
Two things sharpen this a lot
Both optional. Your county decides where you file and what a property tax exemption is actually worth; your rating decides which thresholds you cross.
Where do you live?
We use this once to work out your county, because property tax is decided county by county. No benefit is ever matched on a ZIP code alone.
Your VA disability status
What does my rating actually unlock?
Read the record for the arithmetic in Montana — it is a rate reduction tiered by income, not a value exemption.
1 likely, 31 possible
What you appear to qualify for — worth checking.
One question checks 24 of them. You can skip it and keep browsing.
Did you serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2 more questions could resolve others. We ask them one at a time.
Montana Does Not Tax Active-Duty Pay — but AGR Pay Is Not Covered
A Montana resident serving on active duty in the regular armed forces subtracts that salary from Montana taxable income, as does a resident on National Guard active duty under federal homeland-defense or contingency-operation orders. The line to be careful about is that the Department of Revenue treats AGR PAY AS NOT EXEMPT — a full-time Guard technician on Active Guard Reserve status is outside this. Documentation of military status must go with the return. Legacy WWI, Korean and veterans' bonus payments are also subtractable under the same statute.
Serving membersApplies statewideQualifying active-duty salary subtracted from Montana taxable income in full
Read it and check if you qualifyA Purple Heart Is the Licence — Fish and Hunt Birds on the Conservation Licence Alone
A Montana resident awarded the Purple Heart may fish and hunt upland game birds holding only a conservation licence, at any age. Wild turkey is excluded. Legion of Valor members may fish on the same basis. It is keyed to the AWARD, not to a disability rating, so a Purple Heart recipient with no VA rating at all qualifies. The AIS prevention pass is still required. A limited nonresident route exists through veteran-rehabilitation nonprofits, and the state reimburses Fish, Wildlife and Parks from the general fund — so there is no reason for an office to be reluctant.
VeteransApplies statewideFishing and upland game bird licence fees avoided; a conservation licence is enough
Read it and check if you qualifyMontana Guard Tuition — the Last Dollar, at Any Campus in the System
A serving Montana National Guard member in good standing with Initial Entry Training complete has their REMAINING in-state tuition waived at any Montana University System campus, after all other grants and scholarships are applied — up to the annual in-state tuition. A Guard member who does not otherwise meet MUS residency is GIVEN in-state status for the purposes of the waiver, so an out-of-state member is not shut out. Flat-fee courses are excluded, and the application deadline is the THIRD WEEK OF THE SEMESTER, which is the thing that loses it.
StudentsApplies statewideRemaining in-state tuition waived after all other aid, up to the annual in-state rate
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Tax Rate Cut 50–100%, by Income
Montana cuts the tax RATE on the home by 100%, 80%, 70% or 50% depending on income — for a veteran 100% disabled from service, with the unmarried surviving spouse keeping a tier on separate, lower bands of their own.
VeteransApplies statewideThe property tax rate reduced 50–100%, tiered by income — with different bands for a surviving spouse
Read it and check if you qualifyThree Different Grants for a Deployed Guard Family — and One Needs No Hardship at All
Montana's Military Family Relief Fund pays DEERS-enrolled dependants of a Montana Guard or Reserve member deployed on federal contingency orders for 30 or more consecutive days, at pay grade O-3/W-3 or below. There are three routes. STATUS-BASED pays $250 per eligible dependant and asks for no hardship at all — deployment is the whole test. NEED-BASED pays up to $2,000 where household income drops 30% or more, or for emergency costs. CASUALTY-BASED pays $2,000 for a nonfatal combat-related injury documented by a Purple Heart award.
VeteransApplies statewide$250 per dependant with no hardship test; up to $2,000 on need; $2,000 on a Purple Heart injury
Read it and check if you qualify$1,000 Purple Heart Scholarship — for the Year After You Have Already Started
Montana Veterans Affairs awards $1,000 scholarships to Purple Heart recipients, several each year. The shape is unusual: it is for students who are ALREADY IN — you need one completed academic year at an accredited Montana state university or vocational-technical school, a GPA of 2.0 or better, and current re-enrolment. So it is not a way to start a degree; it is a way to keep going. It is keyed to the award rather than to any disability rating, verified by DD 214 or similar discharge documentation.
StudentsApplies statewide$1,000, awarded to several students each year
Read it and check if you qualifyHalf-Price Camping in Every State Park, for Any Montana Veteran
Montana halves camping fees at its state parks for any resident veteran — no disability rating, no age threshold, no wartime service test. Proof is a DD 214, a VA ID card, or a Montana driver's licence carrying the veteran designation, which is the easiest of the three to keep in a wallet. Electrical fees are excluded, so a powered site is half price on the base fee and full price on the hook-up.
VeteransApplies statewide50% off camping fees at Montana state parks
Read it and check if you qualifyHalf Your Survivor Benefit Comes Off Montana Income — for Five Years
Montana lets a recipient of military survivor benefits subtract up to 50% of that income from Montana taxable income. It is not a permanent exemption: MCA 15-30-2120(3)(n)(ii) attaches a FIVE-YEAR LIMITATION, and residency conditions apply whose exact terms we could not establish from the sources reviewed. Because this reaches survivors rather than veterans, it sits outside every list a veteran would read, and a surviving spouse filing a Montana return is unlikely to be told about it by anyone.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to 50% of military survivor benefits subtracted, for five years
Read it and check if you qualifyWorking Military Retiree Exemption — Narrow, and Easily Lost
From 2024 Montana exempts the lesser of half your military retirement or your Montana wages — for five consecutive years, only for working retirees, and leaving the state forfeits it permanently.
VeteransApplies statewideThe lesser of 50% of military retirement income or Montana source earned income, for five consecutive years
Read it and check if you qualifyLast-Dollar Tuition Waiver — For the Veteran Whose GI Bill Ran Out
An honorably discharged resident veteran whose elected VA education benefits have expired or been exhausted attends any university-system campus — undergraduate or graduate — with the remaining in-state tuition waived after every other grant and scholarship is applied.
VeteransApplies statewideRemaining in-state tuition waived, last dollar, undergraduate and graduate — fees and flat-fee courses excluded
Read it and check if you qualifyRegistration Fees Waived — Two Vehicles at 100%
A veteran rated 100% disabled — or paid at the 100% rate — registers two non-commercial vehicles exempt from all motor vehicle registration fees, and takes two sets of veteran special plates without the cemetery fee. Former POWs share the full waiver; a 50%+ veteran with a Purple Heart gets the registration fee waiver but still pays the cemetery fee. Unremarried surviving spouses keep each route.
VeteransApplies statewideAll registration fees waived on two non-commercial vehicles, plus two sets of special plates without the cemetery fee
Read it and check if you qualifyLicensure Reciprocity for Members, Spouses and Veterans — Including a Temporary Credential
A board may license a service member, military spouse or honorably discharged veteran outright where another state’s requirements are substantially equivalent — and where they are not, must be able to offer a temporary credential so you can practise while you close the gap.
VeteransApplies statewideReciprocal licensure, or a temporary credential while you complete what is missing
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans’ Homes — Three of Them, and Residency Is a Factor, Not a Bar
Eligibility for residence is a veteran, or the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran. Length of residence in the state is one of seven things the department must weigh — which means a veteran who has just arrived is not excluded outright. Montana runs three homes: the Montana Veterans' Home at Columbia Falls, the Eastern Montana Veterans Home at Glendive, and the Southwest Montana Veterans Home at Butte.
VeteransApplies statewideIntermediate, skilled nursing and domiciliary care at one of three state homes
Read it and check if you qualifyPublic Employment Preference — 5 Points, or 10 With a Disability
A public employer using a scored selection procedure must add 5 percentage points for a veteran and 10 for a disabled veteran or an eligible relative. Where the procedure is not scored, the preferred applicant must be chosen over a non-preferred applicant holding substantially equal qualifications.
VeteransApplies statewide5 percentage points added to a scored result, or 10 for a disabled veteran or eligible relative
Read it and check if you qualifyCounty Interment Allowance — Up to $500, Plus $100 to Ship the Headstone
When a Montana resident who was a veteran dies, the county of residence must pay a sum not exceeding $500 towards interment expenses, and up to $100 more for shipping the headstone — unless the heirs or personal representative waive the benefit.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to $500 towards interment, plus up to $100 for shipping the headstone
Read it and check if you qualifyTuition AND Fees Waived by Statute — War-Era Veterans
Montana Code 20-25-421 requires the regents to waive full tuition and fees for a Montana resident who served in any of the nation’s wars and was honorably discharged. The same section also covers war orphans, the families of prisoners of war and those missing in action, and the families of Guard members killed on state military duty — those limbs are covered by mt-war-orphans-and-guard-survivor-waivers rather than repeated here.
VeteransApplies statewideFull tuition AND fees waived at a unit of the university system
Read it and check if you qualifyBack From a Contingency Operation: a Free Conservation Licence and Five Years to Use It
A Montana National Guard member, federal reservist or active-duty servicemember who took part in a contingency operation requiring at least two months outside the state receives a complimentary resident conservation licence and a Class A resident fishing or Class AAA combination sports licence, in the year of return and four more years of their choosing. Separately, a veteran with a combat-connected injury buys named deer and antelope licences at half fee.
VeteransApplies statewideConservation licence and a fishing or combination sports licence complimentary, five years; combat-disabled deer and antelope at half fee
Read it and check if you qualifyThe County Clerk Records Your Discharge Free — and It Stays Confidential for Sixty-Two Years
On request, the county clerk must record the discharge document of an honorably discharged person without charge, in a book kept for that purpose. The record is confidential: it goes to the servicemember, to next of kin or a mortuary for burial benefits, to veterans’ service officers and organisations, to the state veterans’ affairs division, or to anyone with written authorisation — and to the public only once sixty-two years have passed.
VeteransApplies statewideRecording free, with a local certified copy available instead of an Archives wait
Read it and check if you qualifyA Mortgage One Point Below Market, Paid For by the Coal Trust — and No Income Limit
The Montana Board of Housing runs a first-time-buyer mortgage programme for eligible veterans out of $50 million or more of the Montana housing trust. The interest rate must be one percent below the Fannie Mae delivery rate or one percent below the board’s own lowest rate on other home loan programmes, whichever is less. There is no income limit, and the borrower puts in at least $2,500.
VeteransApplies statewideOne percentage point off the mortgage rate, on up to 95% of the statewide allowable purchase price
Read it and check if you qualifyDeployment Cannot Be Held Against You in a Parenting Case — Four Sections That Say So
Montana family law protects a parent in military service in four separate places. A court may not decide the child’s best interest on the parent’s military service alone, may not disapprove a final parenting plan only because of it, must treat a modification driven by service orders as temporary and reverting when the service ends, and may not weigh the absence itself once the parent is back. A family member of the deployed parent may be given visitation during the absence.
VeteransApplies statewideMilitary service alone cannot decide the parenting plan; a service-driven modification reverts when the service ends
Read it and check if you qualifyFour State Veterans’ Cemeteries — Nothing for the Veteran, $800 to Open a Spouse’s Grave
The board is required to establish and operate state veterans’ cemeteries. Four now operate: Fort Harrison, Missoula, Miles City and Columbia Falls. A Montana resident veteran is interred at no charge for a casket burial or an above-ground cremation, and the headstone is free to everyone. A spouse or dependant pays an $800 opening and closing fee on top of the setting fee — the single largest number on the schedule and the one families are not told about.
VeteransApplies statewidePlot, opening and closing, headstone and perpetual care at no charge for an eligible Montana resident veteran
Read it and check if you qualifyOrdered 60 Miles Away: End the Lease, the Phone, the Internet and the Cable — No Termination Fee
A Montana Army or Air National Guard member ordered to a permanent duty station more than 60 miles from the residence may terminate the residential lease, and may terminate a cellular phone, telephone exchange, internet access or multichannel video programming contract that cannot be had at comparable quality and cost at the new station. No early termination fee and no damages for the early termination are payable. Written notice with a copy of the orders takes effect 45 days after delivery.
VeteransApplies statewideLease and telecom contracts ended without early termination fees or damages, on 45 days’ written notice
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Court Can Stop the Eviction Clock for Three Months — and Rewrite the Payment While You Serve
Where a Montana National Guard member on active duty, or a dependant, is sued over non-payment on the mortgage, lease or rental agreement for their primary residence, the court may stay the action for up to three months, may reduce the payment to a reasonable amount given the active duty, and may order the arrears paid over a period beginning after release from active duty. A separate section lets a member ask for any civil action to be stayed.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to a three-month stay, a court-adjusted payment, and arrears deferred until after active duty
Read it and check if you qualify120 Hours of Paid Military Leave for Public Employees, and a Job to Come Back To
Montana runs its own military employment rights act. A state or local government employee in the National Guard or the federal reserves with six months of service is credited 120 hours of paid military leave a calendar year, which may not be charged against vacation and carries over to a ceiling of 240 hours. Any employer, public or private, must give a leave of absence for state military duty, must not deduct it from accrued leave without the member’s wish, and must take the member back with seniority, pay, insurance and pension intact.
VeteransApplies statewide120 hours of paid military leave a year for public employees, on top of vacation, carrying over to 240 hours
Read it and check if you qualifyVeteran Status Printed on the Licence, So You Stop Carrying the DD214
A person who wishes to have veteran status shown on a driver’s licence or identification card may have it indicated there, on documentation confirming that status, with the department verifying the status and making rules to carry the section out. It turns a document you keep in a drawer into one you carry in a wallet.
VeteransApplies statewideVeteran status on the licence or ID, verified once
Read it and check if you qualifyAfter Sixty-Two Years the Discharge Becomes a Public Record — and the Division Must Release It
The veterans’ affairs division shall release, on request, a military discharge document that is at least sixty-two years old and is a public record under federal law. The request goes on a form the board prescribes and must carry enough information to locate the document. Where the discharge contains a social security number, that number must be redacted before release.
VeteransApplies statewideA copy of an old discharge, released on request, with the social security number redacted
Read it and check if you qualifyA Private Employer May Lawfully Prefer a Veteran — and Many Do Not Know It
A private sector employer may adopt an employment policy that gives preference in hiring to a veteran. "Private sector employer" means any employer that is not a public employer, and the section says expressly that this includes for-profit and not-for-profit employers. It is a permission, not a mandate — but it is the answer to an employer who says it would be discrimination.
VeteransApplies statewideA lawful hiring preference a private employer may adopt — if it adopts one
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans Treatment Courts Exist Here — But No Section of the Code Names Them
The Judicial Branch runs veteran dockets inside its treatment court system: a drug court here is defined as a docket within a district court or a court of limited jurisdiction specialising in adult criminal, DUI, juvenile, VETERAN or civil child abuse and neglect cases involving persons who are alcohol or other drug dependent, and the first veterans treatment court opened in Missoula in June 2011. The statutes behind them — the drug treatment court part and the mental health treatment court part — never use the word veteran.
VeteransApplies statewideA voluntary, court-managed treatment programme of a year or more, with a veteran mentor
Read it and check if you qualifyGold Star Family and Next-of-Kin Plates — and the Plates a Widow May Keep
A family member eligible for the Gold Star Lapel Button may be issued Gold Star Family plates; a family member eligible for the Next-of-Kin of Deceased Personnel Lapel Button may be issued next-of-kin plates. Separately, the surviving spouse of an eligible veteran may keep the special plates already issued to the veteran — but only while unremarried, and never the "DV" plates.
VeteransApplies statewideGold Star Family plates on a DD Form 3, next-of-kin plates on a DD Form 1300, and retention of a deceased veteran’s special plates while the surviving spouse remains unremarried
Read it and check if you qualifyThe "DV" Plate Is a Parking Permit — No Doctor’s Certificate Needed
A plate displaying the letters "DV" entitles the holder to the parking privileges of a medically certified disability permit. The route in is a Purple Heart plus a 50% or higher rating, or a 100% rating or payment at the 100% rate — a VA determination, not a physician’s form. A city, town or county may also exempt that plate from on-street time limits.
VeteransApplies statewideAccessible parking entitlement carried by the plate itself, plus a local option to exempt it from on-street time limits
Read it and check if you qualifyWar Orphans Waiver — Tuition Only, Age 25 and Under, Combat-Related Death
The statute promises a tuition and fee waiver to the children of residents killed in service. The Board of Regents policy that actually runs it is narrower: children aged 25 and under, five named conflicts, a combat-related death, undergraduate tuition only — and no fees at all. A separate waiver covers the surviving spouse or child of a Guard member killed on state active duty.
VeteransApplies statewideUndergraduate tuition waived at a campus of the state university system — fees are not waived
Read it and check if you qualifyHeating Help Has No Veteran Door — and Your VA Money Counts Against You
There is no veteran priority, veteran set-aside or veteran discount in the state heating assistance programme. The full programme manual was searched this session and the word "veteran" does not appear in it once. What does appear is "VA" — in the list of income counted when your eligibility is worked out.
VeteransApplies statewideNo veteran route — an income-tested programme in which VA payments are counted as income
Read it and check if you qualify
Does my county change the answer?
For the statewide records, no — the same law applies in all 56 counties. What changes is the office you file with and the local tax arithmetic, which we do not yet hold for Montana.
- Beaverhead County
- Big Horn County
- Blaine County
- Broadwater County
- Carbon County
- Carter County
- Cascade County
- Chouteau County
- Custer County
- Daniels County
- Dawson County
- Deer Lodge County
- Fallon County
- Fergus County
- Flathead County
- Gallatin County
- Garfield County
- Glacier County
- Golden Valley County
- Granite County
- Hill County
- Jefferson County
- Judith Basin County
- Lake County
- Lewis and Clark County
- Liberty County
- Lincoln County
- McCone County
- Madison County
- Meagher County
- Mineral County
- Missoula County
- Musselshell County
- Park County
- Petroleum County
- Phillips County
- Pondera County
- Powder River County
- Powell County
- Prairie County
- Ravalli County
- Richland County
- Roosevelt County
- Rosebud County
- Sanders County
- Sheridan County
- Silver Bow County
- Stillwater County
- Sweet Grass County
- Teton County
- Toole County
- Treasure County
- Valley County
- Wheatland County
- Wibaux County
- Yellowstone County
Every benefit here was checked against the statute or rule behind it, and each page shows the date. This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination — the responsible agency decides your application.