21-0538
Mandatory Verification of Dependents
VA Form 21-0538 is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mandatory Verification of Dependents. VA's form page says to use it to verify the status of your dependents (spouse or children), and that VA uses this information to determine if you're eligible to continue receiving additional compensation based on how many dependents you have. The form itself says VA uses it to determine continued eligibility to the additional allowance for dependents.
The form is two pages. Section I identifies the Veteran, Section II asks whether the status of any dependent has changed, Section III covers a change in spouse status, Section IV covers changes for up to four children, and Section V is the certification and signature. Item 8 refers to the dependents listed on the letter attached to the form. You can fill out the PDF free in your browser on this page and download the result without an account.
Name, Social Security number, VA file number if applicable, date of birth, current mailing address, telephone number with a place for an international number, and an email address with a box agreeing to electronic correspondence about the claim.
Item 8 asks whether the status of your dependents has changed, with Yes and No boxes.
Item 9 records how the status changed: marriage ended, with the date ended and the reason, or death, with the date of death.
Items 10 to 13 give room for four children. Each records the child's name and how the status changed, with the matching date.
A certification that the information is true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief, the Veteran's signature and the date, followed by the penalty, Privacy Act and respondent burden notices.
The form says to read the Privacy Act and Respondent Burden on page 2 before completing it. Keep the letter attached to the form at hand.
The form says it may be completed online or by hand. By hand, it asks for ink, neat and legible printing, one letter per box and fully filled check boxes.
Yes leads to the sections for the dependents whose status changed. No leads straight to the signature in Section V.
Use Section III for a spouse and Section IV for children. For a child adopted out of the family, the form asks for the date the adoption was finalized, and for more than four children, a separate VA Form 21-0538.
Sign Item 14A, which the form marks required, and enter the date in Item 14B.
Mail the completed form to the Evidence Intake Center in Janesville, Wisconsin.
You get the real form, filled in a browser tab, with nothing standing between you and the finished PDF.
Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, P.O. Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.
The form points to Ask VA at https://ask.va.gov/ and the toll-free number 1-800-827-1000 (TTY: 711).
The form names VA Form 21-686c, Application Request to Add and/or Remove Dependents, and VA Form 21-674, Request for Approval of School Attendance.
The JAN 2024 edition supersedes VA Form 21-0538, FEB 2021. It carries OMB Approved No. 2900-0500, which expires 01/31/2027, and a respondent burden of 10 minutes.
VA's form page and the form describe these cases.
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VA's form page says to use it to verify the status of your dependents (spouse or children), and that VA uses the information to determine continued additional compensation based on how many dependents you have.
If the answer to Item 8 is No, the form says to sign Section V and disregard the remaining sections.
The form points to VA Form 21-686c for additional dependents, and to VA Form 21-674 for a child aged 18 to 23 and in school.
The form says to use a separate VA Form 21-0538.
The form says to input the date the adoption was finalized.
The form says not to fill it in if you live apart from the stepchild but still provide at least half of the child's support, or live apart for medical reasons, incarceration, school or a military service obligation.
The form lists Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, P.O. Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.
