You May Qualify for a VA Loan and Not Know It: The Surviving Spouse Benefit

There is a home loan benefit that requires no down payment, carries no monthly mortgage insurance, and exempts eligible surviving spouses from the VA funding fee. Closing costs, prepaid taxes and insurance, escrows, and other expenses may still apply. Many people who may be eligible have never been told it exists.

They are the unremarried surviving spouses of wartime veterans — and of a lot of peacetime service members too. If that describes you, or your mother, or a neighbor down the street, this article is for that person.

The five paths in one screen

• The veteran died in the line of duty
• The veteran died from a service-connected disability
• The veteran was a POW or MIA for at least 90 days
• The veteran was rated totally disabled from a service-connected condition at the time of death
• You are receiving VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)

Any single one of those makes you a candidate. Most surviving spouses who qualify fall under path two or path five and never realize the two are connected to a home loan.

The cost of not knowing

Hypothetical illustration only: on a $350,000 purchase, a 5%-down conventional loan would require $17,500 down plus monthly mortgage insurance, while an eligible surviving-spouse VA loan may require no down payment, no monthly PMI, and no funding fee. Actual mortgage-insurance cost, rate, and closing costs vary by lender, credit profile, and program, and closing costs and prepaids still apply on a VA loan.

Why almost nobody is telling you

Surviving-spouse files are less routine than standard VA purchases, so the questions that would surface eligibility are not always asked. If you believe you may qualify, raise it directly and request a VA eligibility determination.

The next 15 minutes

If any part of this sounds like it might describe your situation, the fastest path to a yes-or-no answer is a prequalification call. We pull the Certificate of Eligibility ourselves in most cases. If you qualify, you'll know in that call. If you don't, you'll know in that call. Either way, you'll finally have a straight answer.