Service-connected Disability Compensation is a monetary benefit paid to veterans who are disabled by an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service. Disability compensation varies with the degree of disability and the number of veteran’s dependents, and is paid monthly. Veterans with certain severe disabilities may be eligible for additional special monthly compensation.
Non Service-connectedPension is a monthly benefit paid to wartime veterans, 65 years or older, who have limited or no income. Wartime veterans, younger than 65, who are permanently and totally disabled may also be eligible.
The Texas Veterans Commission is the designated agency of the State of Texas to represent the State and its veterans before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The agency represents veterans in filing VA disability claims and during VA appeals processes, and assists dependents with survivor benefits.
The Hazlewood Exemption (Hazlewood Act) provides education benefits to honorably discharged or separated Texas veterans and to eligible dependent children and spouses of Texas veterans.
The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program provides educational and vocational counseling to service members, veterans, and certain dependents at no charge. These counseling services are designed to help an individual choose a vocational direction, determine the course needed to achieve the chosen goal, and evaluate the career possibilities open to them
VA provides pensions to low-income surviving spouses and unmarried children of deceased veterans with wartime service. The pension provides a monthly payment to bring an eligible person’s income to a level established by law.
Upon request, the VA will furnish, at no charge to the applicant, a government headstone or marker for the unmarked grave of any deceased eligible veteran in any cemetery around the world, regardless of their date of death.
Families are encouraged to prepare in advance by discussing cemetery options, collecting the veteran’s military information including discharge papers, and by contacting the cemetery where the burial is desired. Gravesites in VA National Cemeteries cannot be reserved in advance; however, reservations made prior to 1962 will be honored.
Veterans, spouses, and dependents may be eligible for VA burial and memorial benefits including reimbursement of burial expenses, military funeral honors, VA headstones and markers, presidential memorial certificates, burial flags, burial in VA National Cemeteries or other veterans’ cemeteries.
Many military and veteran specialty license plates are available to Texas veterans including Disabled Veteran, Former Prisoner of War, Pearl Harbor Survivor, Purple Heart, and Medal of Honor plates.
Disabled parking placards entitle veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities to park in any disabled parking space and exempt them from the payment of a fee or penalty imposed by a governmental unit for parking at a meter.
Concealed Handgun License fees for the issuance of an original, duplicate, modified, or renewed license is reduced for active duty members of the US Armed Forces, including members of the reserves, national guard or state guard.
Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans is a State Bar of Texas program to develop and assist pro bono legal clinics throughout the state for military veterans who otherwise cannot afford or do not have access to the legal services they need.
Texas law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act guarantee that the right of a person who is blind or has other disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to be accompanied by a trained service animal in all public places.
Texas law provides partial exemptions for any property owned by disabled Veterans and surviving spouses and children of deceased disabled Veterans. It also provides a partial exemption for residence homesteads donated to disabled Veterans by charitable organizations that also extend to surviving spouses who have not remarried. The amount of exemption is determined according to percentage of service-connected disability.
The Texas Veterans Land Board offers the Veterans Housing Assistance Program (VHAP) which provides financing up to $417,000 toward the purchase of a home for qualified Texas veterans. Veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities may also be eligible for an interest rate reduction.
The Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB) will lend funds to eligible Texas veterans to make substantial repairs to their existing primary residence. All loans are FHA-insured. Veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities may be eligible for an interest rate reduction.
Requests for the issuance or replacement of military service medals, decorations, and awards should be directed to the specific branch of the military in which the veteran served. Medals awarded while in active service are issued by the individual military branch if requested by veterans or their next of kin.
Each of the military branches maintains a discharge review board with authority to change, correct, or modify discharges or dismissals not issued by a sentence of general court-martial. The board has no authority to address medical discharges.
The secretary of a military department, acting through a Board for Correction of Military Records, has authority to change any military record when necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice. A correction board may consider applications for correction of a military record, including a review of a discharge issued by court-martial.
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