VA Form 21-686c tells VA to add or remove a dependent from your benefits. It covers a new spouse or child, divorce, a dependent's death, a child's marriage, and a schoolchild who stops attending school. Reporting a change matters in both directions: you may be entitled to additional payments, or you may need VA to stop payments that would become a debt.

I checked the August 2025 edition, which replaces August 2022, against the PDF linked from VA's Form 21-686c page. The package has 15 pages. Instructions occupy pages 1 through 6; the application begins on page 7. Follow the printed items below rather than an older screenshot.

Who uses 21-686c, and when?

For disability compensation, additional dependent payments generally require a combined rating of at least 30%. Veterans receiving pension and surviving spouses receiving qualifying survivor benefits use dependency information too, but their eligibility rules differ. VA's dependent benefits page explains those distinctions.

You can identify dependents with your original compensation claim or add them afterward. Report a divorce, death, child's marriage, or end of qualifying school attendance promptly. A change to your household does not automatically update your VA award.

For compensation, VA says payment back to a marriage, birth, or adoption may be available when you already had a qualifying rating, claim the dependent within a year of that event, and answer any request for additional evidence within a year. That is a conditional rule, not a promise of back pay for every late dependency claim.

Two related forms matter before you begin:

  • 21-674: School attendance for a child who is at least 18 but under 23. The 21-686c instructions say to add 21-686c only if you have never received additional benefits for that child.
  • 21P-509: Adding a dependent parent. You do not need 21-686c just to make that request.

Pension claims can require financial forms with the dependency request. Page 2 identifies 21P-0516-1 for a veteran adding only a spouse, 21P-0517-1 for a veteran adding children with or without a spouse, and 21P-0519s-1 for a surviving spouse adding children. For a spouse's aid-and-attendance needs, it identifies 21-2680 or the nursing-home form 21-0779, with 21-686c if the spouse has not previously been included in the award.

Section I: Identify the veteran and claimant, Items 1 to 10

Complete Section I and the signature section for every request. In the official PDF, the identification fields are:

  • 1: Veteran's name.
  • 2: Veteran's Social Security number.
  • 3: VA file number, if known.
  • 4: Veteran's date of birth.
  • 5 and 6: Claimant's name and Social Security number when the claimant is someone other than the veteran.
  • 7: Veteran's service number, if applicable.
  • 8: Telephone number, including the international field when needed.
  • 9: Optional email and a separate electronic-correspondence agreement.
  • 10: Complete mailing address of the veteran or claimant.

Use the identifiers requested for each person. A surviving spouse's information belongs in the claimant fields, while the veteran's information remains in the veteran fields. If a dependent has not been assigned a Social Security number, the instructions direct you to explain that in Item 25.

Section II: Add a spouse, Items 11 to 15

11A through 11F ask for your spouse's current legal name, birth date, Social Security number, marriage date, marriage location, and type of ceremony or marriage. For a location in the United States, provide the city or county and state. Do not substitute the place you now live for the place you married.

12A through 12C ask whether your spouse is also a veteran and, if so, for the applicable VA file and service numbers. Having a veteran spouse does not mean you must leave this section blank.

13A asks whether you live together. If not, 13B asks why, and 13C asks for the spouse's current mailing address. Explain an actual separation, including one caused by work or health needs, rather than treating every different address as a divorce.

14A through 14D provide space for your previous marriages. Each entry asks whom you married, the date and place, how the marriage ended, and the termination date and place. 15A through 15D ask the same questions about your current spouse's previous marriages. The form permits these areas to remain blank if there were no prior marriages.

Supporting evidence depends on the circumstances. For example, common-law marriages require additional statements, and proxy marriages require the associated documents. The instructions also identify situations in which VA needs a marriage record, including residence outside the United States and its territories or unresolved conflicting information. Use the applicable checklist on pages 3 and 4.

Section III: Add children, Items 16 to 19

Items 16, 17, 18, and 19 each describe one child. Their lettered fields repeat the same questions:

  • A through D: Name, Social Security number, birth date, and birthplace.
  • E and F: Who the child lives with and that physical address, if the child does not live with the claimant.
  • G: Every applicable child-status box, including biological, adopted, stepchild, school attendance, or permanent incapacity for self-support.
  • H: How and when a previous marriage ended, if applicable.
  • I: The stepchild question and household-entry date when the printed instruction calls for it.

A child ordinarily must be unmarried to qualify. Reporting a previous marriage does not itself establish restored eligibility. The instructions specifically discuss annulled or void marriages; obtain help if that history affects your claim.

An adopted child's claim needs an adoption document or revised birth certificate identified in the instructions. A claim based on permanent incapacity for self-support needs evidence that the condition existed before age 18, including the physician's statement described on page 5. A schoolchild needs the separate 21-674.

If you need more than four child entries, use Section XI, the page 15 addendum. Its two rows restart at 1A through 1I and 2A through 2I. The form permits additional copies of that page.

Sections IV and V: Divorce and stepchildren, Items 20 and 21

20A through 20C ask for the former spouse's name, the divorce location, and the divorce date. Use the actual divorce date from your records. If the marriage was annulled or declared void, the form sends the explanation to Item 25.

21A asks about stepchildren connected to that former spouse. 21B asks whether you still support them. Follow its branching instructions:

  • If yes, complete 21C through 21L as applicable.
  • If no, complete 21F, the date the stepchild left the household, then continue to Section VI.

The first child's details use 21C through 21G: name, person the child lives with, address, departure date, and share of financial support. 21H through 21L repeat those details for another child.

The PDF asks whether support is more than half, half, or less than half. Report the actual amount of support. Do not decide that a different address automatically ends household membership; the instructions discuss children living away for school, medical reasons, or military service.

Sections VI through X: Other changes, remarks, and signature

Section VI, 22A through 22D: Report a dependent's death. Check the applicable dependent type, then enter the name, death date, and death location. There are two entry groups on the page.

Section VII, 23A and 23B: Identify a child who married and the marriage date.

Section VIII, 24A and 24B: Identify a schoolchild over 18 who stopped attending school and the date attendance ended.

Section IX, Item 25: Explain information that needs additional space or an explanation specifically requested elsewhere. Label the item you are explaining. Claim Raven's 21-4138 walkthrough can help you organize a separate statement when one is needed.

Section X, 26A and 26B: Sign and date. The certification explains that the reported information may change payments and create an overpayment. Unless the claimant is the surviving spouse or a qualifying alternate signer, the veteran must sign. Read the printed alternate-signer conditions rather than having a helper sign merely because they typed the answers.

Fictional example: Adding a spouse and a child

This is an invented form exercise, not a real family or claim. Personal identifiers are deliberately omitted.

A veteran with a 40% combined rating married on June 14, 2026. The spouse has no previous marriages. The veteran's earlier marriage ended in divorce on March 8, 2021. The veteran is also adding a biological child under 18 who lives in the household.

  • 11D: 06-14-2026, with the actual marriage location and type in 11E and 11F.
  • 13A: Yes, because the couple lives together.
  • 14A: The earlier marriage's full beginning and ending information, including the 03-08-2021 divorce.
  • 15: Blank, because the spouse has no prior marriages.
  • 16: The child's own identification, birthplace, and biological-child status.
  • 26A and 26B: The veteran's signature and actual signing date.

The 2021 divorce belongs in the previous-marriage history. If VA is still paying for that former spouse, the veteran also needs to report the removal rather than assuming the new marriage entry corrects the old award.

Where to submit the form

Online: Use VA's combined 21-686c and 21-674 application. The form also identifies upload through AccessVA as an option for completed documents.

Mail: The current 21-686c directs submissions to Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, P.O. Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

Fax: The 21-686c itself does not print a dedicated fax number. VA publishes 844-531-7818 for compensation intake and 844-655-1604 for pension and survivor intake in its intake directory on Form 20-0995. Those are benefit-level routes, not a separate 21-686c fax instruction. Follow any specific return instructions in your VA letter; otherwise use the online or mail route above, or confirm your fax destination with VA at 800-827-1000.

Avoid these problems before signing

Check both spouses' prior marriages, the exact date each ended, and the dependent's identifiers. Include the required adoption, school, or disability evidence for the situation. Complete the applicable removal section even when you are also adding someone.

Keep a copy of the signed application, supporting documents, and submission confirmation. After submission, respond to VA's evidence requests and review the eventual decision for the correct dependent, event date, and payment change. Continued payments alone do not show that VA processed a removal.

To compare compensation with different household information, use Claim Raven's VA disability calculator. You can enter your awarded rating and dependent situation without an account. The result is an estimate to compare with your award, not a dependency decision.

Sources and scope

Verified September 25, 2026: the August 2025 21-686c PDF and its official form page, VA's manage-dependents guidance, the linked 21-674 process, and VA's published intake directory. This walkthrough follows the PDF's actual section numbers, including the separately numbered addendum. The example is fictional and contains no real personal information.

Where to go next

Disclaimer

I'm Landon, founder of Claim Raven and a U.S. Army veteran. I'm not a lawyer, VSO, or VA-accredited representative. Claim Raven is data analysis, not legal, medical, or VA-accredited advice. Use the current VA form and your own records; an accredited representative can help with eligibility or disputed dependency questions.