A widow or widower of a wartime veteran can draw a VA pension of up to $11,699 a year, and up to $18,697 if Aid and Attendance applies, as long as the household income is low enough. Those are the maximum annual rates for a surviving spouse with no dependent child, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and they took effect December 1, 2025.
Three levels for a spouse with no children
The Survivors Pension rates page, last updated August 17, 2026, sets a different ceiling for each level of need. A surviving spouse who is neither Housebound nor in need of Aid and Attendance can get up to $11,699 a year. Housebound status raises it to $14,298. Aid and Attendance, the highest level for a spouse with no child, raises it to $18,697.
A spouse of a Spanish-American War veteran who qualifies for Aid and Attendance has a ceiling of $19,453. VA calls each figure the maximum annual pension rate, and the 2.8 percent cost-of-living increase that took effect December 1, 2025 produced them.
What a child adds
A dependent child raises every level. With one child, the maximum is $15,311 without Housebound or Aid and Attendance, $17,902 for Housebound and $22,304 for Aid and Attendance. Each additional child adds $2,984. A qualified surviving child alone gets $2,984.
The $11,699 figure is the bottom rung for a spouse with no children, not the top of the range.
The people this concerns are widows and widowers of wartime veterans who live on a small income, often without knowing the pension exists. What they have to work out is which of the three levels fits their health and care needs, and whether their income and net worth fall inside the limits.
The gap between $11,699 and $18,697 is $6,998 a year, and it turns on whether the claim lands at the right level. The Veterans Benefits Action Kit explains the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance and gives a claim tracker for following the application.
See the three survivor pension levels and track a claim with the Veterans Benefits Action Kit →
How income reduces the check
The rates are ceilings, not checks. VA says the pension is the difference between the maximum rate and the household’s countable income, which is income as VA counts it. The page works one example: a surviving spouse with one child and Aid and Attendance, with $10,000 in yearly income, has a maximum of $22,304 and so receives $12,304 a year, or $1,025.33 a month.
Medical costs can lower countable income. VA lets a claimant deduct only the part of unreimbursed medical expenses above 5 percent of the maximum rate, which is $584 for a spouse with no dependent child and $765 for a spouse with one.
Who is in and who is out
The Survivors Pension page sets the conditions. The spouse must not have remarried after the veteran’s death, and the veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge. The veteran’s service has to fall within a wartime period, which the page lists, from World War II to the Gulf War beginning August 2, 1990. The spouse must also have lived with the veteran continuously from marriage until death, with exceptions for separations caused by health, work or the veteran’s misconduct.
Income is only half the money test. VA also applies a net worth limit of $163,699 for the period from December 1, 2025 to November 30, 2026. Net worth excludes the home, the car and most home furnishings, and subtracts debts.
Filing the Survivors Pension claim for free
VA lists four ways to apply: with an accredited attorney, claims agent or veterans service organization representative, online, by mail, or in person at a VA regional office. The mail form is VA Form 21P-534EZ, Application for DIC, Survivors Pension, and/or Accrued Benefits, sent to the Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365. The starting point is the Survivors Pension page.
VA also lets a claimant notify the department of an intent to file, which can hold an earlier start date while evidence is gathered, and the page says retroactive payments may be possible. Useful records to gather first are the veteran’s service dates, the marriage and death certificates, the household’s income for the year, and any medical bills that exceed the 5 percent threshold.
VA processes survivors pension claims in the order received unless a claim needs priority processing, and the page gives no set timeframe.
Three pension levels, a $6,998 gap
A surviving spouse who files at the wrong level, or never files, leaves part of the $11,699 to $18,697 range unclaimed. The Veterans Benefits Action Kit walks through the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance and provides a claim tracker that keeps the filing date, the evidence sent and VA’s replies in one place.
Get the survivor’s claim tracker and pension-level guide from the Action Kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
