Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All New Jersey benefits
otherstate

Catastrophic Entitlement — $150 a Month, and It Survives You

A monthly $150 state payment for a wartime service-connected disability on a closed list of seven catastrophic conditions. The surviving spouse continues to receive it.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A monthly $150 state payment for a wartime service-connected disability on a closed list of seven catastrophic conditions. The surviving spouse continues to receive it.

What it's worth: $150 a month — $1,800 a year — and it continues to the surviving spouse

  • The Department states a monthly entitlement of $150 for eligible veterans and surviving spouses.
  • We weight it at twelve monthly payments, $1,800 in a year. The Department does not describe it as time-limited.
  • The condition must be on the Department’s list. A high combined rating that does not include one of the named conditions does not qualify, however disabling it is.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran, or the surviving spouse of an eligible veteran.
  • The service was during a wartime period.
  • You hold a service-connected disability rating from the VA.
  • The character of service is other than dishonorable.
  • Your home is in New Jersey.

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 your condition against the list before anything else. The named conditions are: loss of sight; amputation of both hands, both feet, or one hand and one foot; hemiplegia and permanent paralysis of one leg and one arm on either side of the body; paraplegia and permanent paralysis of both legs and the lower parts of the body; osteochondritis with permanent loss of use of both legs; multiple sclerosis with loss of use of both feet or both legs; and quadriplegia.
  2. 2Confirm the rating is permanent and service-connected, and that it results from wartime service — all three are stated conditions, not one.
  3. 3Get the New Jersey Catastrophic Entitlement Application from the Department’s benefits and resources page, and read the documentation list on the form itself.
  4. 4Attach the VA evidence that shows the condition, not just the percentage. A rating decision naming the disability does more work here than a benefit summary letter showing a combined figure.
  5. 5Contact the Veterans Benefits Bureau on 888-865-8387 or at vbb@dva.nj.gov if any part of the eligibility is arguable — the list is closed, so a marginal case is worth a conversation before filing.
  6. 6If you are a surviving spouse, apply in your own right. The Department states the surviving spouse of an eligible veteran continues to receive the benefit.
Form
New Jersey Catastrophic Entitlement Application
File with
Veterans Benefits Bureau, New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs
Documents you will need
dd214 · va rating decision · va benefit summary letter
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is not paid on a disability percentage. It is paid on one of seven named conditions. A veteran at 100% whose disabilities are not on that list does not qualify, and a veteran below 100% whose disability is on it may.
Worth knowingThe entitlement continues to the surviving spouse. That is unusual enough that a widow or widower of a catastrophically disabled New Jersey veteran should check whether payments simply stopped at death when they should not have.
Known gapThe Department does not publish, on this page, the wartime service periods it recognises, any residency duration, or whether the $150 is adjusted over time. Confirm all three with the Veterans Benefits Bureau before relying on the figure.

Sources

Why only one source type: The Department administers the entitlement and states the amount, the closed list of qualifying conditions, the wartime and permanence tests and the surviving-spouse continuation on its own benefits page. New Jersey’s statute viewer was not reachable to us this session, so we cite the administering department rather than a section number.

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