What Are the VA Loan Spouse Requirements?

VA home loans help eligible service members and veterans buy a home with no down payment and competitive interest rates. They’re one of the most valuable benefits available to military families. But once a spouse is involved—whether you’re applying together, buying alone while married, divorcing, or qualifying as a surviving spouse—the rules matter more than most people expect.

Understanding how VA loan eligibility works in these situations can help you avoid approval issues, entitlement problems, and long-term limitations on how the benefit can be used. The structure of the loan—not just who applies—has real consequences.

Below, we cover who is eligible, how applying with a spouse affects approval, what options are available to surviving spouses, and how divorce can impact VA entitlement and occupancy. With that context, it becomes much easier to decide which mortgage structure is right for you.

Can a military service member’s spouse get a VA loan?

There is one foundational rule that applies to every VA loan involving a spouse: the eligible veteran or active-duty service member must be the primary borrower.

A spouse cannot independently use the VA loan benefit while the veteran is alive. However, a spouse can be included on the same VA loan as a co-borrower or co-signer. In limited circumstances, a qualified surviving spouse may be able to take out a VA loan on their own, which we’ll cover later in this article.

From the VA’s perspective, a loan made to a veteran and their spouse is not treated as a joint loan between a veteran and a non-veteran. It is simply a VA loan to the veteran, with the spouse included. The same treatment applies when a veteran and a fiancée apply for a loan and marry before closing.

For example, imagine a married couple buying a home in San Antonio. One spouse is an active-duty service member stationed at Joint Base San Antonio, and the other spouse is a civilian working locally. Even though both spouses are on the loan and on title, the VA views the mortgage as a loan made to the eligible service member using their entitlement. The civilian spouse is included as a co-borrower, but the VA benefit itself remains tied entirely to the veteran.

This structure is one of the advantages of VA financing. As a government-backed loan, VA loans typically come with fewer restrictions and no down payment requirement.

That said, it’s important to understand that when a veteran applies with a non-veteran spouse, the veteran’s VA entitlement is fully used for that loan.

Applying for a VA Loan With a Spouse

When a spouse is added to a VA loan, their financial profile becomes part of the approval process. Income, credit history, and existing debts are all reviewed together, and the combined picture determines how the loan is underwritten.

If the spouse has strong income and solid credit, this can work in the veteran’s favor by expanding purchasing power or improving overall loan terms. In some cases, adding a spouse makes it possible to qualify for a higher loan amount or a more comfortable payment structure.

The opposite can also be true. If a spouse has weaker credit or significant liabilities, including them on the loan can make approval more difficult or increase pricing. For that reason, it’s worth looking carefully at how each spouse’s financial profile affects the application before deciding whether to apply jointly.

In some situations, it can make sense to delay adding a spouse as a borrower—even in a healthy marriage—if doing so creates unnecessary friction in underwriting. This often comes down to understanding the difference between a co-borrower and a co-signer.

A co-borrower is listed on the loan, holds an ownership interest in the home, and shares full responsibility for repayment. Their income, credit, and debts are fully factored into qualification. A co-signer, by contrast, helps support the loan from a credit standpoint but typically does not have ownership rights in the property. While both structures involve liability, they affect qualification, title, and future flexibility in different ways. Choosing the right setup is less about labels and more about long-term impact.

Buying With a VA Loan While Married—Without Your Spouse on the Loan

A spouse does not have to be on a VA loan. A married veteran can apply on their own and still use their VA benefit.

For example, consider a married couple buying a home in Southern California. The husband is an eligible veteran with strong income and solid credit, while the wife has a history of late payments and a significantly lower credit score. Rather than adding the wife to the VA loan and risking higher pricing or a denial, the veteran applies on his own. The VA loan is approved using only the veteran’s income and credit profile, allowing the couple to move forward with the purchase while preserving the benefits of VA financing.

Whether this works cleanly depends in part on state law. In community property states, a spouse’s debts may still be considered in the debt-to-income calculation even if they are not a borrower on the loan. This does not prevent approval, but it does change how the loan must be evaluated.

That’s why it’s important to talk to your lender or mortgage broker early, so you understand the right path for your situation before choosing how to structure the loan.

How Can a Surviving Spouse Get a VA Loan?

In certain situations, a surviving spouse may be eligible to obtain a VA loan in their own name.

Eligibility expanded significantly with the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. Prior to that change, eligibility was limited to spouses of veterans who died from service-connected causes. Today, surviving spouses may qualify if the veteran:

• Is missing in action

• Is a prisoner of war

• Died while in service or from a service-connected disability and the spouse did not remarry

• Died while in service or from a service-connected disability and the spouse did not remarry before age 57 or before December 16, 2003

• Was totally disabled and later died, even if the disability was not the direct cause of death, in certain cases

There are also specific timing and remarriage rules that apply to surviving spouses who remarried before December 16, 2003.

Getting a Certificate of Eligibility as a Surviving Spouse

Surviving spouses who believe they qualify must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility, often referred to as a COE. This document confirms to the lender that you are eligible to use the VA loan benefit in your own name and is required before a VA loan can move forward.

For surviving spouses, the COE does more than confirm service history. It verifies that the VA has reviewed the circumstances surrounding the veteran’s service and death, as well as remarriage status where applicable, and determined that the surviving spouse meets the program’s eligibility requirements.

The exact documentation needed can vary depending on the situation. In many cases, this includes proof of the veteran’s service, a marriage certificate, and documentation related to the veteran’s death or disability status. Because these details matter, mistakes or missing paperwork can delay approval if they’re not handled carefully.

A Certificate of Eligibility can be requested directly through the VA’s online portal, but many surviving spouses choose to work with a lender or mortgage broker who can help submit the request and confirm the documentation is complete. Having a professional involved early can help avoid unnecessary back-and-forth and ensure the loan stays on track once you find the right home.

Can a Child or Family Member Use a Veteran’s VA Loan?

VA loans are reserved for eligible veterans and qualifying surviving spouses. A child or other family member cannot obtain a VA loan in their own name.

That said, a veteran may purchase a home where a family member lives, as long as the veteran occupies the property as their primary residence. The VA will not back loans intended solely for someone else’s use.

Family members may be included as co-borrowers in limited circumstances, but the veteran must remain the primary borrower and occupant.

How Divorce Affects VA Loan Spouse Requirements

Divorce does not create VA loan eligibility for a civilian spouse. An ex-spouse cannot originate a new VA loan using the veteran’s benefit.

However, divorce often complicates existing VA loans. If an ex-spouse remains in a home financed with a VA loan, the veteran’s entitlement is typically still tied to that property. Until the loan is paid off, refinanced without VA backing, or properly assumed with a release of liability and entitlement, the veteran may not be able to fully restore their benefit.

This is one of the most common ways veterans unintentionally limit their future VA loan options.

Can an Ex-Spouse Stay in the Home?

In some cases, an ex-spouse may remain in the home after divorce, particularly if they were an original co-borrower. If the ex-spouse was not a borrower, they would generally need to assume the VA loan or refinance the property.

Any assumption requires lender and VA approval, including a review of the ex-spouse’s creditworthiness. Until the loan is resolved properly, entitlement issues usually remain.

Another common path is a divorce refinance. In this scenario, the spouse who keeps the home refinances the existing VA loan into a new loan in their own name. While this can fully remove the veteran from the mortgage and restore their VA entitlement, it also means the loan is no longer a VA loan. The refinance would typically be into a conventional or FHA mortgage, which comes with different pricing, down payment, and mortgage insurance rules.

A divorce refinance can be the cleanest solution from a legal and entitlement standpoint, but it’s an important tradeoff to understand upfront. Once the VA loan is refinanced into a non-VA loan, the VA status and benefits tied to that mortgage are permanently lost. That’s why divorce-related mortgage decisions should be made carefully and with guidance from a lender or mortgage broker experienced in divorce mortgages.

The Bottom Line on VA Loan Spouse Requirements

VA loans offer exceptional benefits, but those benefits come with rules that matter when family situations change. Spouses can be included, excluded, or—in limited cases—qualify on their own, depending on eligibility and structure.

Understanding how entitlement, occupancy, and liability interact is what allows veterans and their families to use the VA loan benefit confidently and avoid long-term complications.

When handled correctly, the VA loan remains one of the most flexible and powerful home financing options available to military families. That’s where working with the right mortgage partner matters. At LendFriend Mortgage, we specialize in VA loans with real-world complexity—spouses on or off the loan, community property states, divorce scenarios, and surviving spouse eligibility. As a mortgage broker, we’re not limited to one lender’s rulebook. We help veterans structure VA loans correctly from day one so they protect their entitlement, avoid unnecessary delays, and move forward with confidence.