For a veteran past 65, VA life insurance can mean VALife, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI), or an older VA policy that is closed to new applicants but still in force. VALife is open to any veteran with a service-connected rating who applies before age 81. VGLI is the group coverage a service member insured under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) could apply for after leaving the military.,

Maybe you're the veteran, weighing whether a policy is worth the premium at your age. Or maybe you're the son or daughter who just found a VA insurance letter in a parent's desk and has no idea who to call. Start with the policy number.

In This Guide

Which VA Life Insurance Policy Does Your Veteran Have?

The rules, the costs and the office that pays a claim all differ by program. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs runs most of these programs itself. Group coverage that began in the military is the exception: Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI), Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (Family SGLI) and Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) are handled by the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (OSGLI), a division of Prudential.

Program Status today Who handles it
VALife Open to veterans with a service-connected rating (narrow rules at 81+) VA Insurance Center
VGLI Open to service members leaving the military with SGLI, within 1 year and 120 days of separation OSGLI (Prudential)
S-DVI, basic and supplemental Closed to new applications after December 31, 2022; existing policies continue VA Insurance Center
National Service Life Insurance (NSLI, WWII), Veterans' Special Life Insurance (VSLI, Korea), Veterans' Reopened Insurance (VRI, 1965 to 1966) Closed; some policies still in force VA Insurance Center
United States Government Life Insurance (USGLI, WWI) Closed VA Insurance Center

Sources: VA program pages, 38 U.S.C. 1922B and VA's fiscal year 2025 insurance report.,,,,

The policy number is your best clue. VA's Life Insurance Center (800-669-8477) handles questions on VALife, S-DVI and any VA policy whose number starts with V, J, RS or W. A VGLI bill or letter will come from OSGLI instead, at 1-800-419-1473.

Can You Still Get VALife After 70?

Yes: a veteran over 70 can get VALife if they have a service-connected disability rating and apply before turning 81. Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife) is guaranteed-acceptance whole life insurance: any rating counts, including 0%, there's no deadline after the rating, and no one asks about your health. A veteran without a rating starts with a VA disability compensation claim (see our guide to disability compensation for older veterans).

At 81 or older, the door is narrower. A veteran 81 or older qualifies for VALife only if all three are true: they filed the compensation claim for that disability before turning 81, VA first granted service connection for that disability (a new or secondary condition) after they turned 81, and they apply for VALife within 2 years of that rating decision. After 81, a rating increase, individual unemployability or an incompetency finding doesn't count, and VA won't issue VALife to anyone over 95. For eligibility, VA counts age at the last birthday, so a veteran who is 80 years and 7 months old still counts as 80.

What VALife covers and what it costs

VALife insures the veteran only, never a spouse or dependents, in $10,000 increments up to $40,000. A veteran who starts with less VALife coverage can add more later, up to the $40,000 maximum, but each added amount starts its own 2-year waiting period.

The VALife premium is set by age when the veteran applies, and it never increases for as long as the VALife policy is kept. For the VALife premium, VA uses your nearest birthday: once more than 6 months have passed since your last birthday, you're rated a year older., So applying a few weeks earlier can lock in a lower rate for life.

Age at application $10,000 coverage $40,000 coverage
70 $78.00 $312.00
75 $99.50 $398.00
80 $127.50 $510.00
85 (81-and-older path only) $162.60 $650.40
90 (81-and-older path only) $217.00 $868.00

Source: VA's VALife rate table. Rates for ages 81 to 95 apply only through the 81-and-older path.

You can have VALife premiums taken monthly from VA disability compensation or military retired pay, or pay VA directly through Pay.gov or from a checking account, or pay a year ahead. When applying for VALife, expect to pay 2 months of premiums upfront with automatic deduction, or 1 month if you pay directly.

The 2-year wait is the part to understand first

This matters most at 80 or 90. Full VALife coverage doesn't go into force until 2 years after enrollment, and only if the premiums due in those 2 years are paid. If the veteran dies during the VALife waiting period, VA pays the beneficiary the premiums paid plus interest, not the face amount. The interest on a VALife waiting-period refund equals the VALife fund's return for the year before the death, never below 0%, and VA posts it each year.

A few more limits come with the policy. A VALife policy builds no cash value during its 2-year waiting period, and cancelling VALife before that period ends gets no premiums back, except within 31 days of enrolling, when VA refunds everything. After the 2-year wait, VALife cash value grows and can be taken in full or in part. VA doesn't offer VALife loans, and by law it can't waive VALife premiums.

Missed payments

VALife gives a 31-day grace period; if the veteran dies in it, VA deducts the unpaid premium from the payout. A VALife premium paid within 61 days of the due date while the veteran is alive still counts as on time. Otherwise, the VALife policy lapses as of the due date. A lapsed VALife policy can be reinstated only within 2 years, only by paying all missed premiums plus interest, and only before age 81. A veteran 81 or older can't restart a lapsed VALife policy. If a parent's memory is slipping, setting up automatic deduction is a quiet way to protect the policy.

Keeping VGLI Past 60

VGLI is tied to leaving the service: a separating service member who had SGLI can apply for VGLI within 1 year and 120 days after leaving service, and must show good health if the VGLI application comes after the first 240 days. If your veteran already has it, here's what it costs now. Unlike VALife, the VGLI rate climbs as the policyholder moves into an older age band.

Age Per $10,000 of coverage For $100,000 of coverage
60 to 64 $8.50 $85
65 to 69 $13.80 $138
70 to 74 $21.50 $215
75 to 79 $38.50 $385
80 and over $44.00 $440

Source: VA's VGLI rate table effective July 1, 2025.

A VGLI policyholder under 60 may add $25,000 of VGLI coverage once every five years, but after 60 no VGLI increases are allowed. Having VGLI doesn't stop a service-connected veteran from also buying VALife; the two can be held at the same time, and so can private life insurance.

The premium holiday, November 2026 to January 2027

VA's first VGLI premium holiday means no premiums are due for November 2026, December 2026 or January 2027, and coverage continues. The VGLI premium holiday applies automatically to VGLI coverage active on November 1, 2026. A VGLI policy cancelled or lapsed on or before October 31, 2026 doesn't qualify, past-due VGLI balances aren't forgiven, and the premium holiday doesn't apply to VALife or S-DVI. Deductions from retired pay or VA compensation, and AutoPay, adjust on their own; if you pay VGLI through your bank's bill-pay, ask the bank to stop payments effective November 1, 2026, and restart them effective February 1, 2027. If your family has been debating whether to drop VGLI, cancelling before November gives up three free months.

Turning VGLI into a permanent policy

If the rising premium is the problem, VGLI can be converted at any time to an individual permanent policy with a participating commercial insurer, without a medical exam or proof of good health, at that insurer's standard rates. The permanent policy converted from VGLI has to be a cash-value plan such as whole life, not term, it can't be larger than the VGLI amount, and VGLI ends the day before the new policy starts.

A VGLI policy that has lapsed can sometimes be revived on form SGLV 180 sent to OSGLI. Within 6 months of a VGLI lapse, the insured only has to show their health hasn't changed; after that, VGLI's good-health requirements apply.

If Your Veteran Has S-DVI

Service-Disabled Veterans Life Insurance (S-DVI) stopped taking new applications after December 31, 2022. If your veteran already has a policy, it continues, and they don't have to do anything to keep it.

A 2026 change can leave a veteran with no full life insurance coverage for two years. The option to keep S-DVI while waiting out VALife's 2-year period applied only to VALife applications made by December 31, 2025. For a VALife application on or after January 1, 2026, VA says the S-DVI policy, including one with a premium waiver, ends the day VA approves VALife. A veteran who switches from S-DVI then has no full coverage during VALife's 2-year wait, and the S-DVI waiver doesn't carry over because VALife premiums can't be waived. For a veteran whose S-DVI premiums are waived, switching can mean trading a policy they pay nothing for into one they pay for, with two uncovered years in between. Talk to the Insurance Center before applying.

If your veteran is totally disabled and still paying S-DVI premiums, ask about a waiver. Basic S-DVI premiums can be waived while the policyholder is continuously totally disabled, if the total disability has lasted at least 6 consecutive months and began before their 65th birthday; the application is VA Form 29-357. Don't wait: VA generally can't waive S-DVI premiums that came due more than 1 year before it received the S-DVI waiver application, though S-DVI premiums already paid for waived months are refunded. Supplemental S-DVI, extra coverage of up to $30,000, is different: its premiums are never waived.

Old NSLI, VSLI, VRI and USGLI Policies

If your parent or grandparent served in World War II or Korea, there may be a VA policy you've never heard about. Four legacy programs are closed to new policies: United States Government Life Insurance (USGLI, World War I, issued 1919 to 1951), National Service Life Insurance (NSLI, World War II, 1940 to 1951), Veterans' Special Life Insurance (VSLI, Korean War, 1951 to 1956) and Veterans' Reopened Insurance (VRI, disabled WWII and Korea veterans, 1965 to 1966). VA's fiscal year 2025 report still lists NSLI, VSLI and VRI policies in force, each with a $10,000 maximum basic face amount plus any paid-up additions bought with dividends.

In 2026, VA says only NSLI policies (numbers starting with V) and VRI policies (J or JR) pay dividends. No VSLI dividends were paid in fiscal 2025, and SGLI and VGLI pay none.

Money from these old policies sometimes sits unclaimed. VA's Unclaimed Funds Search lets anyone check, by the original policyholder's name, whether VA is holding death awards, dividend checks or premium refunds it couldn't deliver from USGLI, NSLI, VSLI, VRI or S-DVI. VA's Unclaimed Funds Search doesn't cover SGLI or VGLI, and a name match doesn't prove the money is yours; VA asks for identifying information before releasing anything.

Life Insurance After a Terminal Diagnosis

When a veteran is dying, an accelerated benefit can put money in the family's hands while it can still help. The accelerated benefit exists only on SGLI, Family SGLI and VGLI, not on VALife or S-DVI. With a physician's written prognosis of 9 months or less to live, an SGLI or VGLI insured can receive up to 50% of the policy's face value as an accelerated benefit, in one lump sum, in multiples of $5,000. An SGLI or VGLI accelerated benefit can be taken only once and can't be undone after the payment is cashed or deposited. After an SGLI or VGLI accelerated benefit, the rest of the face value is paid to the beneficiaries at death, VGLI premiums drop in proportion, and the application form is SGLV 8284.

What if your veteran has dementia and can't sign? Since October 29, 2025, VA's regulation lets someone apply for a medically incapacitated, terminally ill insured if that person holds the insured's power of attorney, guardianship or conservatorship, or is the VA-appointed fiduciary or military trustee, and the physician certifies the insured is both terminally ill and medically incapacitated. VA's own web page still carries an older note saying no one may apply on the insured's behalf, even though the same page says a POA, guardian, conservator or VA-appointed fiduciary can; the amended regulation, 38 CFR 9.14, is what governs. Someone applying for an SGLI or VGLI accelerated benefit on the insured's behalf should attach a true copy of the POA, court order or fiduciary designation to the application. If you're not yet the veteran's fiduciary, our guide to the VA fiduciary program explains how that works.

How to File a VA Life Insurance Claim After a Death

Filing a claim is one more task at a time when you have no room for one. The good news is that the steps are short once you know which office has the policy.

1
Step 1

Identify the program

Check the paperwork against the table at the top of this guide, or call the VA Insurance Center (1-800-669-8477) or OSGLI (1-800-419-1473).

2
Step 2

For VALife, S-DVI, NSLI, VSLI, VRI or USGLI

file VA Form 29-4125e, Claim for One Sum Payment, online, or the paper VA Form 29-4125, with VA's Insurance Center. Upload documents through VA's secure upload site or mail them to Department of Veterans Affairs Insurance Center, PO Box 5209, Janesville, WI 53547-5209.

3
Step 3

For VGLI

complete SGLV 8283, Claim for Death Benefits, and send it to OSGLI with a copy of the death certificate, by mail to OSGLI, PO Box 70173, Philadelphia, PA 19176.

4
Step 4

For SGLI on a member who died on active duty, or Family SGLI

the branch of service Casualty Assistance Office helps submit the claim (SGLV 8283, or SGLV 8283A for Family SGLI). Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) claims have their own separate instructions from VA.

For a VA-administered policy, what you send depends on who you are. A principal beneficiary sends the signed claim form and a copy of the death certificate showing date and cause of death; a photocopy is fine. A contingent beneficiary also sends the death certificate of each principal beneficiary. An estate representative sends a claim form signed by the executor or administrator with letters testamentary, letters of administration or a court order; if the estate won't be administered, VA Form 29-541 with a statement saying so.

Lump sum or monthly payments

SGLI and VGLI pay either a lump sum or 36 equal monthly installments with interest. Even if the veteran chose a lump sum, an SGLI or VGLI beneficiary may choose installments, and can later take what's left in one payment. For a VA-administered policy, a beneficiary who wants monthly payments should call the Insurance Center at 1-800-669-8477. For NSLI, options include installments over 36 to 240 months or lifetime income, but an estate is paid in one sum.

If no beneficiary was named

For SGLI and VGLI, the money goes in this order: the named beneficiary, then the widow or widower, then children (and the descendants of a deceased child), then parents, then the estate's executor or administrator, then other next of kin. Under SGLI and VGLI, someone who doesn't claim within one year after the death can be passed over. For VALife, the order is the surviving spouse, then children, then the parents or the survivors of the parents, then the estate's representative, then next of kin; a named beneficiary has the first year after the death to file.

Life insurance paid because of a death generally isn't taxable income for the beneficiary, though interest added to the payment may be. For the wider list of what to do after a veteran dies, see our guide to VA survivors benefits.

How VA Life Insurance Affects VA Pension and Medicaid

Families using needs-based benefits often worry that a policy will cost them eligibility. The honest answer is that it depends on the benefit, and in one spot the rules are simply silent.

VA pension and Aid and Attendance. For VA pension, including Aid and Attendance, assets are the fair market value of everything the claimant owns unless 38 CFR 3.275(b) excludes it. That VA pension list of exclusions doesn't name life insurance or its cash value, and neither VA's pension regulation nor its adjudication manual states how a life insurance policy is valued. Be wary of anyone who tells you flatly that cash value always counts, or never does; ask a VA-accredited representative to look at the specific policy. For VA pension, cashing a life insurance policy in is handled on the income side: the part of a cash-surrender payout that returns premiums is excluded from countable income. Our guide to the VA pension net worth limit explains the rest of the test.

Survivors Pension. For the Survivors Pension, the lump-sum proceeds of a life insurance policy on a veteran are excluded from countable income, and VA reads that exclusion as applying only to survivors pension. Two cautions: VA's manual separately lists USGLI and NSLI proceeds as income to count without reconciling the two, and the Survivors Pension exclusion covers income only; VA's list of excluded assets doesn't name life insurance proceeds. See our Survivors Pension guide.

Accelerated benefits. By federal law, an SGLI or VGLI accelerated benefit isn't counted as income or resources for any federal or federally assisted program.

Medicaid and SSI. Under Supplemental Security Income rules, life insurance counts at its cash surrender value, but none of it counts if the total face value of all policies on the person is $1,500 or less, and term insurance is left out of that total. Medicaid generally applies SSI's methods to older applicants, but states may use less restrictive rules and some use more restrictive ones, so check your state's rule on countable and exempt assets. Every VALife policy has a face value of at least $10,000, well above that $1,500 line, so under the SSI rule its cash surrender value would count., Our guide to how VA benefits and Medicaid work together covers the bigger picture, and using life insurance to pay for senior care covers private policies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a veteran over 80 get VA life insurance?

A veteran who is still 80 can apply for VALife with any service-connected rating; at 81 or older, VALife is open only through a narrow 81-and-older path. The three conditions are in Can You Still Get VALife After 70?.

Is VALife worth it for an older veteran?

Whether VALife is worth it depends on health, budget and what the money is for. VALife accepts any service-connected veteran without health questions, which can matter for a veteran in poor health, but the VALife face amount is paid only after 2 years. Run the worked example's math on your own numbers.

Can my parent have both VALife and VGLI?

Yes, a veteran can hold VALife and VGLI at the same time; S-DVI is the one VA policy that's an either/or with VALife. See Keeping VGLI Past 60 for what VGLI costs at older ages.

My father had an NSLI policy. Is it still paying dividends?

Possibly: in 2026, VA says only NSLI and VRI policies pay dividends. Old NSLI, VSLI, VRI and USGLI Policies covers how to tell the old programs apart by policy number and how to search for unclaimed policy money.

Learn More

VA BenefitsVA Benefits for Senior Care: A Complete GuideA complete guide to VA benefits for senior care: long-term care, Aid and Attendance, pensions, DIC, and home grants for older veterans and surviving spouses. VA BenefitsVA Survivors Benefits: A Guide for Surviving SpousesVA benefits for a surviving spouse: DIC vs Survivors Pension, Aid and Attendance, CHAMPVA health coverage, burial benefits, and how to apply in 2026. VA BenefitsVA Burial Benefits for Veterans and SpousesVA burial benefits for veterans and spouses in 2026: who can be buried in a national cemetery at no cost, the allowance amounts, and survivor support. VA BenefitsVA Survivors Pension and Aid and AttendanceHow the VA Survivors Pension works in 2026: who qualifies, the income and net worth limits, maximum annual rates, and how Aid and Attendance raises the benefit. VA BenefitsVA Disability Compensation for Older VeteransVA disability compensation for older veterans is tax-free and not income-tested. See 2026 rates with a spouse, how ratings combine, and the back-pay rule. FinancialUsing Life Insurance to Pay for Senior CareTurn a life insurance policy into care money: ADB riders, life settlements, viatical settlements, and cash surrender, plus the tax and Medicaid consequences.

Find personalized help sorting out a veteran's VA life insurance at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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