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Gold Star Family Plates — and Remarriage Does Not End Them

Gold Star Family plates go to the family of someone who died while serving in good standing. The eligible-applicant list names a surviving spouse "whether remarried or not", which is unusual and decisive. The numeric plate carries no plate fee; a personalised message plate is $40 a year, three quarters of which goes to the veteran cemetery fund. Enrolment in the state veterans registry comes first.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Gold Star Family plates go to the family of someone who died while serving in good standing. The eligible-applicant list names a surviving spouse "whether remarried or not", which is unusual and decisive. The numeric plate carries no plate fee; a personalised message plate is $40 a year, three quarters of which goes to the veteran cemetery fund. Enrolment in the state veterans registry comes first.

What it's worth: No plate fee on the numeric plate; $40 a year for a personalised message plate

  • The department lists the eligible relationships as a surviving spouse — whether remarried or not — an ancestor including a stepparent, a descendant including a stepchild, a foster parent or a person in loco parentis, and a sibling.
  • The qualifying death is of an individual who died while serving in good standing in the United States armed forces.
  • The applicant must be eligible for, and enrolled in, the state veterans registry through the state veterans department before ordering.
  • The plates are a specialty plate issued in lieu of regular county plates, for motor vehicles and trailers including cabin and semi trailers registered to eligible family members.
  • The department states the numeric format carries no fee, and that numeric plates are numbered and issued in consecutive order as applications are received.
  • A message plate — the personalised option — costs $40.00, apportioned 75% ($30.00) to the veteran cemetery cash fund and 25% ($10.00) to the department cash fund.
  • The department states the fee is due at the time of initial application and must be renewed annually, in the month of the vehicle’s registration renewal.
  • Once enrolled in the veterans registry, the plates may be ordered online.
  • The application form published by the department is the Gold Star Family licence plate application.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are a surviving family member.
  • Your home is 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. 1Do not rule yourself out because you remarried. The department’s own eligibility list says "a surviving spouse - whether remarried or not", which is the opposite of the rule most survivor benefits use.
  2. 2Enrol in the state veterans registry first, through the state veterans department. The plate order will not go through until that enrolment exists.
  3. 3Choose the numeric plate if cost matters. It carries no plate fee at all; the $40 belongs to the personalised message option, and it recurs every year.
  4. 4Know where the $40 goes if you do choose the message plate: $30 to the veteran cemetery cash fund and $10 to the department. It is a donation attached to a plate rather than an administrative charge.
  5. 5Diarise the renewal. The specialty fee falls due in the month your vehicle registration renews, not on the anniversary of the plate.
  6. 6Order online once the registry enrolment is confirmed — the department supports online ordering for registry-enrolled applicants.
  7. 7Check the relationship list before assuming you are outside it. Ancestors including stepparents, descendants including stepchildren, foster parents and people who stood in loco parentis, and siblings are all named.
Form
Application for Gold Star Family licence plates
File with
The Department of Motor Vehicles, after registry enrolment
Annual
Claimed once a year.
CorrectionA remarried surviving spouse is eligible here. That is worth saying twice, because remarriage ends survivor eligibility in so many programmes that people stop asking. The department’s eligibility list settles it in five words.
CorrectionThe "$40 Gold Star plate fee" that circulates is only half the story. It attaches to the personalised message plate. The plain numeric plate carries no fee at all, and the ordinary registration fees are payable either way.
Known gapThe department page read this session names no statute. The registry enrolment step is stated as a requirement but the page does not say how long enrolment takes, which is the practical bottleneck for a family that wants the plate for a particular date.

Sources

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