Who qualifies
You must be eligible for VA disability compensation with a combined rating of at least 30%. Then the VA will add to your payment for:
- A spouse, including common-law and same-sex marriages recognized where you live.
- Children under 18.
- Children 18 to 23 who are enrolled in school full time.
- Adult children who became permanently disabled before turning 18.
- Parents you directly care for, whose income and net worth fall below the VA's limits.
How much
The added amounts rise with your rating. The exact figures for each rating and family size are on the VA's compensation tables, which we keep on our pay rates page. A spouse who needs aid and attendance adds more.
How to add them
- Online at VA.gov is fastest for a spouse and children, and the VA counts the day you start the online claim as the date received.
- By mail: VA Form 21-686c for a spouse or a child under 18; add VA Form 21-674 for a student 18 to 23; VA Form 21P-509 for a dependent parent.
Have marriage and birth dates, Social Security numbers, and for a student, the school's name and enrollment dates. Keep the VA updated when a child turns 18, a student leaves school, or a marriage ends; overpayments are collected back.
The one-year rule
If the VA gets your dependent claim within one year of the marriage, birth, or adoption (or within one year of the rating that first put you at 30%), it pays back to that date. Miss the year and payments start from the day the VA receives the claim. This is the single most common way veterans leave money on the table after a decision.
How we help
When a decision brings a client to 30% or higher, we check whether dependents are on the award and, if not, help get the claim in inside the one-year window. We also check that older awards still list the right people.
Have questions about your own situation?
Request a free consultation call. Someone from our team will call you within one business day, talk through where you are, and tell you plainly whether we can help. No cost, no obligation.