A widow or widower of a wartime veteran can draw a VA Survivors Pension of up to $11,699 a year, as long as income is low and there has been no remarriage. That is the maximum annual rate for a surviving spouse with no dependents, and the actual check shrinks as the spouse’s countable income rises. The rates took effect December 1, 2025, and the net worth limit that goes with them runs through November 30, 2026.

The Department of Veterans Affairs lists the figures on its Survivors Pension rates page, last updated August 17, 2026. The page puts the basic rate at $11,699, the housebound rate at $14,298 and the Aid and Attendance rate at $18,697. Aid and Attendance is VA’s term for extra money when a person needs help with daily activities. The page does not yet show rates for December 1, 2026 or later.

Who can get the survivors pension

VA says a surviving spouse may be eligible only if there was no remarriage after the veteran’s death. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and the service must include at least one day in a wartime period such as World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam era or the Gulf War, according to the VA Survivors Pension page. The spouse must also have lived with the veteran from the marriage until the death, though a separation caused by health, work or the veteran’s own misconduct may not disqualify.

Anyone who lost a spouse who served in wartime, has not remarried and lives on a small income has three things to check: the veteran’s service dates and discharge, the household’s yearly income, and total net worth. VA makes the final call, but a spouse who clears those three checks has a reason to file.

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Net worth is capped by Congress. From December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026, the limit is $163,699, according to the VA rates page. VA counts everything the spouse owns, minus debts, but the home, the car and most home furnishings are left out.

The limit is not a fixed number. Under 38 CFR 3.274, it started at $123,600 on October 18, 2018 and rises each year by the same percentage as the Social Security cost-of-living increase. That is why the dates on the VA page matter: a limit that applies through November 30 is replaced by a new one after that.

What the pension actually pays

The maximum is not the usual payment. VA bases the payment on the difference between the spouse’s income for VA purposes and a limit that Congress sets. The rates page gives an example of a $22,304 maximum and $10,000 of income, which leaves a $12,304 yearly pension, or about $1,025 a month.

Some unreimbursed medical costs can be subtracted from income, but only the part above 5 percent of the maximum rate counts. For a surviving spouse alone that threshold is $584 a year, and with one dependent it is $765. A spouse paying large out-of-pocket medical bills can see the countable income drop well below the amount on a tax return.

Spouses with a child have higher maximums. With one dependent child, the rates page lists $15,311 for the basic rate, $17,902 for housebound and $22,304 with Aid and Attendance. Each added child brings another $2,984 a year.

Extra money for help at home

Aid and Attendance and Housebound are add-ons to the pension, not separate programs. VA’s page on the two benefits describes them as monthly payments added to a VA pension for veterans and surviving spouses, and it says a person must be receiving the pension to get either one.

Aid and Attendance can apply when a person needs another person’s help with bathing, feeding or dressing, must stay in bed much of the day because of illness, lives in a nursing home because of a loss of mental or physical abilities, or has eyesight limited to 5/200 or less in both eyes. Housebound applies to someone who spends most of the time at home because of a permanent disability. The page says a person cannot receive both at the same time.

For a surviving spouse with no dependents, the Aid and Attendance maximum of $18,697 is $6,998 a year above the basic $11,699. That gap is the reason the care question is worth settling before an application goes in, because the form and the evidence that support it differ from a basic claim.

Filing the application

A surviving spouse applies on VA Form 21P-534EZ, the form VA uses for survivors pension applications. The VA pension page says the form can be mailed to the Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365, or taken to a VA regional office. The form page says an online application is also available, and it lists the form’s last update as September 22, 2026.

VA says applicants can also work with an accredited attorney, claims agent or Veterans Service Organization representative. Filing an intent to file first can help gather evidence and may allow payments to be backdated to an earlier start. VA processes claims in the order received and gives no set timeline.

The remaining question is one only the household can answer: whether countable income and net worth fall inside the limits VA published for the period that ends November 30, 2026. The application is where VA sets the final amount.

Does a surviving spouse’s income fit under the VA pension limits?

Many widows and widowers assume a house, a small savings account or a Social Security check rules them out. The VA counts income and net worth under rules that leave out the home and the car, and a missed medical deduction or an overlooked Aid and Attendance add-on changes the size of the check.

The Veterans Benefits Action Kit lays out the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance, and it includes a claim tracker for keeping every form, date and phone call in one place. Part 2 covers Aid & Attendance and Housebound, and Part 7 covers getting help without being taken advantage of.

Get the three pension levels and claim tracker for a surviving spouse’s VA filing →

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.