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Connecticut benefits for Veterans and families, each checked against an official Connecticut source and linked to it. Federal VA benefits work the same everywhere, and the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA) can help you apply for them at no cost.
13 benefits from official sources1 unverifiedLast verified
Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA)
How to read the labels:In effect confirmed on an official page. Not yet finalized announced or passed but not in force yet. Unverified — confirm with the agency we couldn't confirm it on an official page, so ask the agency.
Help from your state veterans office
DVA Office of Advocacy and Assistance (district service officers)
In effect
CT DVA's Office of Advocacy and Assistance has district offices that help veterans with federal and state claims. You can find your district on the "DVA Districts by Town" list.
Who qualifies
Connecticut veterans and families.
Amount or details
Free.
How to apply
Call your district office (for example, the 1st District at 860-616-2336) or DVA at 860-616-3600.
From the 2024 assessment year, towns must fully exempt the primary home, or one motor vehicle, of a veteran rated 100% permanent and total. From the 2025 assessment year, towns may cap the exemption at the town's median residential assessed value.
Who qualifies
Veterans with a 100% P&T VA rating (spouse's dwelling/vehicle in some cases).
Amount or details
Full exemption (may be capped at the town median assessed value from 2025).
How to apply
Apply to your local assessor with a current VA rating letter.
“Beginning with the 2024 assessment year, municipalities must fully exempt from property tax a primary dwelling or motor vehicle for each veteran who has a permanent and total (P&T) disability rating of 100%.”
“Beginning with the 2025 assessment year, municipalities may cap the exemption amount at the median assessed value of residential real property in the municipality.”
Wartime veteran and disability-rating exemptions
In effect
Qualified wartime veterans get a $1,000 basic exemption, plus an income-based amount of $500, or $2,000 if their income is under the threshold. Veterans rated 10% or more get basic exemptions from $2,000 to $3,500, and severe disabilities add $5,000 or $10,000. Towns may offer more local-option relief.
Who qualifies
Wartime veterans; veterans with ≥10% rating or limb loss; surviving spouses/minor children.
Amount or details
$1,000 basic (wartime); $2,000–$3,500 basic (disability), plus income-based and severe-disability amounts.
How to apply
File your DD-214 with the town clerk and apply to the local assessor.
Connecticut's public colleges and universities (CSCU and UConn) cover tuition that VA benefits don't pay for eligible veterans. Charter Oak gives a 50% waiver. Fees, books and room and board aren't covered.
CT DVA gives veterans free bus passes for their transit district. You verify eligibility with a VA health ID card or a Connecticut license or ID with the veteran flag.
Who qualifies
Veterans with VHIC or CT DL/ID veteran indicator.
Amount or details
Free.
How to apply
Request online through the DVA Forms bus pass request.
Free lifetime state park pass for certain disabled wartime veterans
Unverified — confirm with the agency
Not confirmed on an official page: The source is a 2022 legislative research report. It was not confirmed on a current DEEP page, and the DEEP state park fees URL returned 404.
Connecticut residents who are wartime veterans with certain disabilities, such as service-connected TBI, loss of use of a limb or blindness, can get a free lifetime pass to state parks, forests and recreation areas.
Who qualifies
CT-resident wartime veterans with specified disabilities.
“The law grants a non-transferrable lifetime pass for free admission”
Hunting/fishing: no veteran-specific free license found
In effect
DEEP's 2026 guide gives a free hunting license to residents who have lost a limb or the use of one, whether or not they are veterans. Active-duty members pay resident fees. No separate license for veterans as such was found.
Who qualifies
Residents with limb loss / loss of use (any cause).
Amount or details
Free hunting license (permits/stamps extra).
How to apply
Apply at a DEEP or town clerk office with a physician's certification.
“provides a free hunting license (permits and stamps not included) to Connecticut residents who have lost one or more limbs or have permanently lost the use of one or more limbs.”
Rocky Hill campus: Levitow Healthcare Center and residential programs
In effect
CT DVA's Rocky Hill campus has the Sgt. John L. Levitow Healthcare Center, a 5-star CMS-rated skilled nursing facility certified as a State Veterans Home. It also has residential rehabilitation programs.
Who qualifies
Eligible Connecticut veterans; admission decided by DVA.
CT DVA runs the Middletown State Veterans Cemetery, where burial is free for eligible veterans and grave markers cost nothing. It also runs the Colonel Raymond F. Gates Cemetery in Rocky Hill for residents of the DVA facilities.
Who qualifies
Eligible veterans, spouses and eligible minor children.
Amount or details
No charge for eligible veterans; free government marker.
How to apply
Work with a funeral director and the DVA Cemetery and Memorial Services office.
We only publish what we could confirm on an official Connecticut source. These are the open questions from our latest review. Ask the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA) about anything here.
The content is official.
State park pass for disabled veterans was confirmed only in the 2022 OLR backgrounder and is marked unverified.
The Soldiers', Sailors' and Marines' Fund (American Legion) was not re-verified on a current page.
No 2026 pending Connecticut veteran legislation was checked beyond the PA 25-2 and PA 25-168 changes in the OLR report.
This state page was last reviewed against official sources on November 1, 2026. Our watcher re-checks those pages automatically and flags any item whose quoted wording disappears.