Parents who lose a son or daughter in service, or to a service-connected condition, can receive up to $842 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs through Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for parents, VA says. Those who also qualify for Aid and Attendance get $458 more each month on top. VA’s rate table is dated Dec. 1, 2025, and it has not posted a Dec. 1, 2026 table.
Who counts as a parent under DIC
VA’s survivor program, called DIC, is open to a biological, adoptive or foster parent of the service member or veteran, and the parent’s income has to fall below a set limit, according to VA’s DIC page. A foster parent means someone who served in a parent role before the service member’s last entry into active service.
The death has to trace to service. VA lists a service member who died of an injury or illness on active duty, or in the line of duty during active duty for training, as one path. A veteran who died from a service-connected illness or injury is another, and certain illnesses in the line of duty during inactive training also count.
How yearly income shrinks the $842
The $842 is the top of the table. VA’s Parents’ DIC rates page pays that amount to a single surviving parent whose yearly income is $800 or less. When both parents are alive and live apart, the table starts at $611 at the same $800 limit, and when both live together or with a spouse it starts at $576 at a $1,000 limit.
From there the check falls as income rises. The page’s formula takes 8 cents off the monthly payment for each added dollar of yearly income in most rows, so a single parent with $5,000 of income would see the payment drop by about $336, to roughly $506. That works out to about $6,072 over a year, against $10,104 at the $842 top rate.
Parents who live on Social Security or a small pension, and whose son or daughter died in service or of a service-connected illness, are the ones for whom this table matters most. The step is to find the yearly income line on VA’s table, read across to the monthly rate, and then decide whether to file the parents’ application. Parents who never filed because they assumed their income was too high can check the actual limit first, since a parent living with a spouse stays on the table up to $26,663.
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The reduction stops at a floor of $5 a month. For one parent, the floor runs from $11,263 of yearly income up to $19,836, or up to $26,663 if the parent lives with a spouse, and the table ends there. The same $5 floor sits between $8,375 and $19,836 for two parents living apart, and between $8,138 and $26,663 for two living together.
A tiny monthly figure is paid on a slower schedule. VA says yearly totals above $228 are paid monthly, totals from $144 to $228 quarterly, totals from $72 to $144 twice a year, and totals under $72 once a year. A parent at the $5 floor, with a $60 yearly total, would be paid once a year.
The $458 Aid and Attendance add-on
Aid and Attendance is a separate add-on for a parent who qualifies, and VA’s rates page says it adds $458 a month. Paired with the $842 top rate, a parent at the lowest income tier could draw $1,300 a month, or $15,600 over a year.
Parents’ checks sit well below the spouse’s. VA lists a basic monthly DIC rate of $1,699.36 for a surviving spouse of a veteran who died on or after Jan. 1, 1993. A parent’s top rate is about half that amount.
VA’s page walks through the math in four steps. Find the income limit just above the parent’s income and take its beginning monthly rate. Subtract the limit just below from the actual income, multiply the difference by the rate of decrease, and add the result to the beginning rate. The page’s own example uses $7,153 of income and a $64 starting rate, and it lands at $68.24 a month.
Filing VA Form 21P-535 and watching the rate date
Parents file VA Form 21P-535, Application for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation by Parent(s), VA says. A surviving spouse or child of a veteran uses VA Form 21P-534EZ instead. Applications can go through an accredited representative, VA’s online QuickSubmit tool, the mail to the Pension Intake Center in Janesville, Wisconsin, or a VA regional office.
An intent to file can protect time. VA’s DIC page says filing one gives a parent time to gather evidence and may allow retroactive payments that start on an earlier date. The page points to a separate intent-to-file page for the specifics.
The dollar figures belong to a date. VA’s rates page, last updated Sept. 22, 2026, shows the rates effective Dec. 1, 2025, and a later table will carry its own effective date. Anyone planning around a specific monthly amount for 2027 should look at the effective-date line on VA’s page before relying on the numbers here.
Is a parent’s claim still unfiled?
A parent who files late or reads the income table wrong can leave months of Parents’ DIC unpaid, because the amount falls 8 cents with every dollar of yearly income and the filing date can set the start of payments. Families sorting out which VA money fits which parent often have two or three programs on the table at once.
The Veterans Benefits Action Kit covers the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance and shows how to file for free with VA Form 21P-527EZ. It also includes a claim tracker, so each form, date and follow-up sits in one place instead of in a drawer.
Get the Aid and Attendance levels and a claim tracker in the Veterans Benefits Action Kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
