Disabled Veteran Benefits in Louisiana

This benefit is written into the state constitution and it comes in three steps. A veteran rated 100% is exempt from all property tax on the home they own and live in, apart from certain municipal tax assessments. The constitution's wording covers a veteran rated totally disabled or rated one hundred percent for unemployability, so TDIU counts.

Below that, the benefit is added on top of the homestead exemption. Rated 70% or more but less than 100%, the next $4,500 of your home's assessed valuation is exempt. Rated 50% or more but less than 70%, the next $2,500 is exempt. These are amounts of assessed value, not dollars off the bill, and the home must be one you own and occupy. The state veterans department lists the exemption for ratings of 50% or higher only.

A surviving spouse is eligible for the same exemption as long as they occupy and still own the home. Louisiana has a veterans service office in every parish, and you can make an appointment with a counselor there for more information.

The programme is called Title 29, after the part of state law it sits in. If you are rated 90% to 100%, or the VA has found you unemployable because of a service-connected disability, your child can attend any public college or university in the state without paying tuition or matriculation, registration, laboratory, athletic, medical and other school fees. The child must be 16 to 25, and you must have lived in Louisiana for at least twelve months before they are admitted.

Know who is left out. While the veteran is living, only children qualify. Spouses qualify when the veteran is a prisoner of war or missing in action, and surviving spouses qualify after the death of a qualifying veteran, with ten years from the date of eligibility to use the benefit. Title 29 is written for children, spouses and surviving spouses; it does not list the veteran's own classes.

To apply, contact your parish veterans service office and schedule an appointment with a veterans assistance counselor, who decides eligibility.

Louisiana's vehicle benefits start at 50%, not 100%. A resident veteran with a service-connected disability of 50% or more gets a military honor plate marked "DV" with no fee, and it is not subject to renewal like a standard plate. The state may issue one for each vehicle registered in your name. A resident veteran rated 100% can choose the "100% DAV" plate instead, on the same no-fee, no-renewal terms.

The driver's license or state ID card fee is waived too, for a veteran who was honorably discharged, has a service-related disability of at least 50% and is paid compensation for it. The state veterans department warns that the waiver may not apply at privatized offices.

Two smaller savings sit alongside these. Retired military members and veterans with a disability of 50% or more may be eligible for a 25% discount on auto insurance, at the insurer's discretion. And a veteran or military retiree who moves to Louisiana pays only $90 in vehicle use tax on their primary personal vehicle, provided it was registered or leased in another state and is registered in Louisiana within 90 days of the move.

The wildlife department's Disabled Veteran License is open to any veteran with a permanent service-connected disability of 50% or more, and that includes non-residents. There is no cost: the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation pays the fee. Licenses expire annually and must be renewed.

State parks use the same cut-off. A Louisiana resident veteran classified as 50% or more disabled, or as totally and permanently disabled, is exempt from the day-use entrance fee at every state park, and so is anyone riding in the same private vehicle. You apply to the Office of State Parks for an entrance permit first.

The law names the day-use entrance fee only. It says nothing about camping fees.

Louisiana runs five veterans homes. A veteran with a VA service-connected rating of 70% or higher may be eligible to live there free of charge, and so may a veteran at any rating admitted with a diagnosis related to their service connection. Below 70% the monthly fee is $2,424, a figure set by the federal VA that changes annually. Service-connected veterans rated over 50% get their medications at no cost.

The homes are open to Louisiana veterans who were honorably discharged and served 90 days of active duty, in wartime or peacetime, and to eligible National Guard members and Reservists. Spouses of veterans, Gold Star parents and eligible Guard members and Reservists may be eligible to live there for a monthly fee of $5,500, which is subject to change.

The state also runs five veterans cemeteries. There is no burial fee for an eligible veteran, and any veteran who was VA service-connected is eligible. For a spouse or dependent child the fee is equal to the federal VA plot allowance.

If you draw a military pension, Louisiana leaves it alone. The state veterans department puts it in one line: military retirement benefits are exempt from Louisiana state taxation.

VA disability compensation is a separate payment, and the VA itself describes it as a monthly tax-free payment.

Two benefits at 50% appear nowhere else on this page. You may be eligible for free parking at Louisiana airports for any length of time, and you are eligible for free cruise terminal parking at the Port of New Orleans for seven days. Both need a form certified by a veterans assistance counselor. The airport also wants your itinerary, and its requirements may vary by airport; the cruise terminal wants a military honor license plate.

One programme turns on need, not on a rating figure. The Military Family Assistance Fund provides eligible veterans up to $10,000 on a need-based claim in a 12-month period, toward housing, utilities, some medical services and other essential expenses.