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Real Property Tax Exemption for a Surviving Spouse After a Line-of-Duty Death

A surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces who died in the line of duty is exempt from real property tax on the principal residence, up to the average assessed value of a single-family home in that locality. The statute covers a death that was the result of suicide, and lets the spouse move without losing it.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces who died in the line of duty is exempt from real property tax on the principal residence, up to the average assessed value of a single-family home in that locality. The statute covers a death that was the result of suicide, and lets the spouse move without losing it.

What it's worth: Real property tax exempted up to the locality’s average assessed value for a single-family home

  • The exemption is capped at the average assessed value of single-family residential dwellings in the locality. Value above that average stays taxable, so the saving depends on your locality’s average and on how far above it your home sits.
  • The dwelling and the land not exceeding one acre are what the statute reaches.
  • We hold no locality-by-locality table of average assessed values, so no dollar figure is published here.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces.
  • The exemption attaches to the dwelling you occupy as your principal residence.
  • Your home is in Virginia.

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. 1Get the Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense. That determination is the document the exemption turns on, and it is not the same paperwork as a VA survivor claim.
  2. 2If the death was a suicide, apply anyway. The statute names it: it covers "the death of any such member that was the result of suicide" where a Line of Duty determination exists.
  3. 3Take the determination to the commissioner of the revenue or assessing officer for the city or county where you live, and ask for the surviving-spouse exemption under § 58.1-3219.9 by name — it is a different provision from the disabled-veteran exemption.
  4. 4Ask the office for the locality’s average assessed value of single-family residential dwellings. That number, not your assessment, is what caps the exemption.
  5. 5If you move, tell the new locality. The statute applies "without any restriction on the spouse’s moving to a different principal place of residence", but the exemption has to be claimed where you now live.
  6. 6If you remarry, the exemption ends. The statute conditions it on the surviving spouse not remarrying.
Form
Your locality’s exemption application for a surviving spouse of a member killed in the line of duty
File with
The commissioner of the revenue or assessing officer for your city or county
Automatic until something changes
Granted once and carried forward. You must report a change in ownership, occupancy or status.
CorrectionA death by suicide with a Line of Duty determination is inside this provision, in terms. Families are frequently told otherwise, and the sentence in the statute is explicit.
CorrectionThe moving rule is the opposite of what most property tax relief does. The exemption follows the surviving spouse to a new principal residence rather than being tied to the house they lived in at the time of death.
Worth knowingThis is not the disabled-veteran exemption. A surviving spouse turned down under § 58.1-3219.5 because the veteran was not rated 100% should still be tested here, and the reverse also holds.
Known gapWe do not hold the average assessed value of single-family dwellings for each Virginia locality, and that number is the cap. Ask the assessing office for it before assuming the whole bill goes away.

Sources

Why only one source type: The Department of Veterans Services website refused retrieval again this session, and localities publish their own forms rather than a statewide one, so the record rests on the statutory text.

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