VA Loan Eligibility for Surviving Spouses: How to Qualify

The VA home loan benefit does not always end with the veteran. If your spouse died in service or from a service-connected disability, or is missing in action or a prisoner of war, you may be able to use the benefit yourself, in your own name, to buy a home.

A lot of surviving spouses never find out. The rules are written in benefit-office language, the forms depend on paperwork you may or may not already have, and nobody hands you a summary at the worst moment of your life. This guide lays out who qualifies, which form to file, and what the benefit is actually worth.

Who Can Qualify

The Department of Veterans Affairs lists the conditions for a surviving spouse to get a Certificate of Eligibility, or COE. The COE is the document that proves to a lender you qualify for the benefit.

You may be able to get a COE if you are the spouse of a veteran and at least one of these is true:

• The veteran is missing in action
• The veteran is a prisoner of war
• The veteran died while in service or from a service-connected disability, and you did not remarry
• The veteran died while in service or from a service-connected disability, and you did not remarry before you were 57 years old or before December 16, 2003
• The veteran had been totally disabled and then died, but their disability may not have been the cause of death, in certain situations

That fourth item is the one people misread. Remarriage does not automatically end eligibility. If you remarried at or after age 57 and on or after December 16, 2003, eligibility can remain. There is a narrow exception with a hard deadline attached: a surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003 and on or after their 57th birthday had to apply no later than December 15, 2004. Applications received after that date are denied.

The fifth item is worth flagging too. A veteran who was rated totally disabled and later died of something unrelated can still create eligibility for a surviving spouse in certain situations. If you assumed you did not qualify because the cause of death was not service-connected, it is worth checking.

Which Form You File Depends on DIC

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC, is a monthly tax-free payment the VA makes to eligible survivors. Whether you already receive it decides your paperwork path.

If you receive DIC benefits, you file VA Form 26-1817, Request for Determination of Loan Guaranty Eligibility for Unmarried Surviving Spouses. You will also need the veteran's DD214 or other separation papers, if available. You can hand the form to your lender to process online, or mail it to the VA regional loan center serving your state. The address is printed on the form itself.

If you do not receive DIC benefits, you start further back. You file VA Form 21P-534EZ, the Application for DIC, Survivors Pension, and Accrued Benefits. Along with it you need the veteran's DD214 or other separation papers if available, a copy of your marriage license, and the veteran's death certificate. That package goes to the VA Pension Intake Center in Janesville, Wisconsin.

If you cannot find the separation papers, you are not stuck. Military service records can be requested through the National Archives.

Which form you file depends on whether you already receive DIC. Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, home loans for surviving spouses.

The Funding Fee Exemption Is the Big One

Most VA borrowers pay a one-time VA funding fee at closing. For a first-time purchase with less than 5 percent down, that fee is 2.15 percent of the loan amount, per the VA funding fee rate charts effective April 7, 2023.

Surviving spouses receiving DIC are exempt from the funding fee entirely.

On a $350,000 loan, that exemption is worth about $7,525 that never enters your loan balance. It is the single largest dollar advantage in the benefit, and it is easy to lose by accident: the VA is explicit that the spouse of a deceased veteran is not considered exempt unless they are in receipt of DIC. If you are eligible for DIC and have not applied, applying is worth real money at closing as well as monthly.

The funding fee exemption on a sample $350,000 first-use purchase loan. Rate source: VA funding fee charts effective April 7, 2023.

What the Benefit Does and Does Not Do

A COE proves eligibility. It does not approve you for a mortgage. The VA is clear that you still have to meet your lender's credit and income requirements, and that is a separate conversation with a separate set of documents.

What the benefit gives you is meaningful:

• No down payment required for qualified borrowers
• No monthly mortgage insurance, which conventional loans usually charge below 20 percent down
• Competitive interest rates
• Seller concessions of up to 4 percent of the home's reasonable value, which can cover closing costs

What it does not give you is a guarantee of approval, a waiver of credit standards, or protection from buying more house than the budget supports.

Once you have the COE, the rest of the process looks like any VA purchase. The lender orders a VA appraisal, reviews your credit and income, and decides. Our guides to what to expect from the VA loan appraisal and VA loan credit score requirements cover those two steps, and the complete guide to buying your first home with a VA loan walks the whole path if this is your first purchase.

Choosing People Who Have Done This Before

A surviving spouse VA purchase is not exotic, but it is uncommon enough that plenty of lenders and agents have never run one. That inexperience shows up as delays, wrong forms, and a funding fee charged that should not have been.

Ask a prospective lender two questions directly. Have you closed a surviving spouse VA loan before? And will you process VA Form 26-1817 for me, or do I need to mail it in myself? The answers tell you a lot.

VeteranPCS agents and lenders are veterans and military spouses who work with this community every day, and there is no cost to be connected. Talk with a VeteranPCS expert when you are ready, or well before, if you just want to understand your options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a surviving spouse get a VA home loan?

Yes, if you meet the VA's conditions, which include the veteran being missing in action or a prisoner of war, or the veteran having died in service or from a service-connected disability without you remarrying, subject to the age 57 and December 16, 2003 rules.

Does remarrying end my VA loan eligibility?

Not always. Eligibility can continue if you did not remarry before age 57 or before December 16, 2003. A surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003 and on or after their 57th birthday had to apply by December 15, 2004.

Do surviving spouses pay the VA funding fee?

Surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation are exempt from the VA funding fee. A spouse of a deceased veteran who is not receiving DIC is not considered exempt.

What form does a surviving spouse use for a COE?

VA Form 26-1817 if you receive DIC. If you do not receive DIC, file VA Form 21P-534EZ first, along with the veteran's DD214 if available, your marriage license, and the veteran's death certificate.

Do I still need to qualify with a lender?

Yes. The Certificate of Eligibility proves you qualify for the benefit. You still have to meet the lender's credit and income requirements to get the loan.

This content is for informational purposes. Consult a professional for personal financial decisions.

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